《Strategists Reincarnation Death Match》 -2 Character Lis Character list: (BM) Baron Magellan, a brilliant andselfless strategist who died while protecting his military unit. He reincarnated into planet four, where he has to beat every other strategist in humanity''s history if he wishes to get back to Earth. Debut: chapter 1 (RB) Roxi Blaze, Baron''s girlfriend. Debut: chapter 1 (CW) counter worker, a person who will imitate the looks of a loved one to a dead person, and process the dead person into one of 50,000+ planets. Debut: chapter 2 (PW) portal worker, someone who leads dead people into the planet they are supposed to go to. Debut: chapter 2 (YF) Yue Fei, a Chinese general in the Song Dynasty. Today he is regarded in China as a symbol of absolute loyalty, and has high ethical values. All in all a good person all around. Debut: chapter 3 (BQ) Bai Qi, a Chinese general during the warring states period in China. He ordered the deaths of over 1 million people during his career. Considered one of four of the greatest generals in the warring states period. Debut: chapter 11 (LM) Li Mu, a Chinese general who fought back the Qin with vastly inferior quantity and quality of soldiers for a time before being executed by his own king. Considered one of four of the greatest generals in the warring states period. Debut: chapter 11 (WJ) Wang Jian, a Chinese general who helped Qin to unite the other states under one banner. Removed one of the greatest obstacles in Qin''s path to unification, the state of Chu, with a massive 600,000 men army. Considered one of four of the greatest generals in the warring states period. Debut: chapter 11 (LP) Lian Po, a Chinese general who fought for the state of Zhao before and had many merits to his name. Until the king died and his son took over, the new king declared Lian Po an enemy of the state and sent an army to chase after Lian Po. Lian Po managed to escape and moved to the state of Wei, then to the state of Chu before he died. Considered one of four of the greatest generals in the warring states period. Debut: chapter 11 (MZ) Madam Zheng, arguably one of the most successful pirate of all time. Her first husband, her, and her second husband expanded their small fleet of ships to 6 fleets all of them were very capable independently. She and her fleets messed around and made trouble for the Qing dynasty in China, the Portuguese empire, and the British empire. She died as a free women who had all of her illegal acts of piracy pardoned by the Qing dynasty through amnesty. As awesome as she was she still did a lot of pirate stuff so she isn''t just amazing, she''s terrifying. Debut: chapter 11 (XD) Xu Da, was a general that led a revolution to overthrow the mongol led Yuan dynasty that ended in 1368, and helped put his friend into the emperor''s seat to start the Ming dynasty that started in 1368. He was allergic to goose, his death was a mysterious one as no one really knows what happened. -1 Death Match System Introduction Appearing in chapter three of the novel, the Death Match System is a way to test strategical prowess between strategists. In a nutshell it is an extremely detailed strategy game where strategists will think of a way to overpower their opponents. This system will is the only way in which battles will be fought for the rest of this novel. Interface: The interface is overly simple in the way the Death Match setting will be decided. There are three decisions that need to be made in order to start the game. They are mode, army size, and which side will attack or defend. The mode will be a decision of what time the battle will take place (and therefore the troops and weapons that can be used) it could be World War 1, World War II, Ancient China, Medieval Europe, and also divided into land, air, or sea battles. The Army size ranges from 500 versus 500 all the way to 5 million vs 5 million. Which side will attack and which side will defend should be pretty self-explanatory. For all official competitions these are the only decisions that can be chosen. Advanced Interface: the advanced interface is more of a sandbox situation. These advanced settings are more for experimenting rather than to increase strategical prowess. As there are some options that you can choose that should be impossible to replicate in real life for example having an infinite amount of food or your soldiers don''t need to sleep. Setting of the game: after going through the interface the system will take a few seconds to generate a setting appropriate for the chosen options. The setting will be tailored in accordance to Army size and mode and will generate a unique geography surrounding the players. This way neither side will have an advantage over the other as the terrain should be new to both sides. Troop performance: the troops in the game should be treated like actual people since everything you make them do will effect their performance in battle. Group performance can be calculated (generally speaking) with a few variables. Morale, energy, actions of the leader, etc will all be factored into the equation. Morale: morale starts at 50%, imagine an army that you just assembled willingly during for you, it''s just not realistic. So depending on the strategists actions morale can go up or down. Ways to increase morale: giving a speech beforeclashing, outmaneuvering your enemies, and strategist fighting alongside the men. Ways to decrease morale: send a couple of your men to perform a suicidal charge into a vastly superior enemy force, being outmaneuvered, and executing your own men. Energy: in this sense energy can mean how much energy a person has to perform actions. A starving army isn''t going to be very effective, unless you can make turn into an advantage. Effected by weather, morale, state of their army compared to the enemy, and rations they receive. Objectives differ from mode to mode, some are quick to finish, while others will have multiple objectives each of which could take years to finish. An example would be in walled city sieges you only have to capture/defend the one city, whereas in WWII you have to capture multiple cities, and defend against many different countries. Maps are generated and each time a simulation is played out a different and unique map will be generated with multiple factors like weather, sunlight, and distance to objective. When in the simulation it will be publicly broadcasted to anyone of the same community as the strategists going against each other, and time in simulation is faster than time outside the simulation. About 1 week in simulation is 1 day on planet four. The reason these are broadcasted is because the communities can witness and discuss the decisions made by the strategist to see how others perform. For most modes there can be multiple strategists going against each other. Strategists will have boosted stats in game compared to the regular troops, so they can choose to fight along with their soldiers. Choosing to do this will increase morale, but if one isn''t careful then they run the risk of dying in enemy hands and thus gets transported out of the game where they will not be able to interfere any longer, assuming there is at least one more strategist on their team. All the soldiers, aside from the strategists who put on the helmet, are simulations, they may have free will but their future is ultimately death. How to win: slay all the enemy generals, finish the mode''s most basic objective (winning war, capturing city, etc), or the enemy team surrenders. 1 The end? Or Perhaps Just the Beginning "Have I not died?" Looking around in visible confusion Baron Magellan (mah-jell-an) realized that he suddenly was not behind enemy lines but instead was in the middle of a large and dark hall filled with many other humans looking in sorry states. Some with a visible gunshot wound, some who had entire parts of their body seemingly smashed into concrete, some with impossibly small frames as if they hadn''t eaten in months. Obviously, the reason for these people being here made sense, oftentimes you can see how you died. Suddenly, Baron frantically touched himself all over to see what had happened to him to cause him to die. Only to come to the horrifying discovery that he had a huge cavity near his chest. At this moment he finally realized what had happened, he was in the middle of enemy fire, and when an enemy grenade suddenly found itself within his corps position. He decided to selflessly sacrifice himself and bear-hugged the grenade to save his teammates. "Noooooooooooo" A blood curdling emotional cry sounded out from a girl. This voice belonged to the sniper of the team, a girl who had been ridiculed for joining what has been deemed a male only occupation by everyone except Baron. She quickly proved everyone wrong when she consistently showed proper results over every assignment she was assigned to. Over the months the two had spent many lonely nights together behind enemy lines, and gradually had developed feelings for each other. The two had just decided to give it a try when they got back to China from this deployment overseas. Her name was Roxi Blaze, and she had decided to enroll in the army when she had nothing else in her life. Roxi Blaze (RB) "Come on Baron, you can''t die like, NOT LIKE THIS" she screamed as she got to Baron''s position, a couple of tears falling down her cheeks. Baron Magellan (BM) "Haha" he weakily replied. "Looks like the heavens have other plans....for us" He continued (RB) (sniff) "Stop talking... Medic, I need a medic" she urgently called out. Looking back at Baron "come on you can''t die like this, you are amongst the best and brightest of the new Chinese generation in terms of strategies and leadership. You definitely can''t die like this" (BM) (coughing and wheezing) "Don''t be angry my love, if there is a god then I will fight an army of them in order to return to you, please wait for me to......." He slumped over. As dead as a sandbag. (RB) "Noooooo" She roared into the heavens as a demented expression appeared on her face. After letting go of her lover she threw down her sniper and ran to get an AK47 and bolted straight through the safety of their current position and straight into the heart of the enemy camp. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Looking around Baron deduced that his current place was some sort of afterlife processing chamber for the dead souls. There was an endless sea of people in front and behind him and he realized that there wasn''t anything else in his vision. The only thing he could think of to do at this moment was to just go with the current of the crowd. He continued forward for what seemed like an eternity, he finally managed to get to the front and hastily approached the person working one of an endless number of counters. (BM) "hello there I just want to kno...." Baron started but was startled when he saw who it was. "R-Roxi?" 2 Experience of an Afterlifetime (BM) "R-Roxi, how can you be here?" Baron cried in disbelief. Counter Worker (CW) "Actually I''m not Roxi, I''m in this form because people tend to not argue with the person they care for most, and that makes all the difference when you are working 24/7 every day non stop with 1 year shifts.Please sit down and place your hands on this crystal ball. Please hurry up and sit down you will be the last person I will process on my shift." She said ecstatically. (BM) "Yes... of course." He said as he snapped out of his daydream, sat down, and placed his hands on the crystal ball. The ball glowed a bright blue for a split second then died down to reveal a bright blood red four on the glassy surface. "four? is that good or bad?" (CW) "Oh dear... in a nutshell there are over 50,000 planets you can get assigned to, but generally the closer your number is to one the crueller the world will be. You will be going to planet 4, the planet of the military strategists. The people who are transported over there are people who have generally all been to war in one point of their lives or another, and have been scarily good at commanding troops to wage war. To survive in the top 20 worlds will not be an easy task, even less needs to be said about planet four." (BM) "well, is it possible for me to go back to Earth now that I have died?" (CW) "Is that what you want? Well in that regard you have actually managed to luck out quite a bit. First of all only the top five planets have the privilege of letting people back to Earth. Secondly you are Chinese and the Chinese communities in these top 5 planets are actually quite powerful already. The tricky part is to convince them to put enough of their resources into you for you to have a chance to win the death match tournament, once you do you can opt to return back to Earth. Hardly anyone does though, since if you win this tournament you will have the admiration of everyone else in your world, and if you go back to Earth you get none of that prestige" (BM) "Is that so? Then can we please get started?" He looked at her longingly. (CW) "Wow, you are still so polite after death? Most people can''t even be polite when they are alive, you may not be the first but being polite towards us does have its privileges. You are hereby granted one request before you are sent to planet four. Most people tend to choose to see how their loved ones cope with their loss." (BM) "I see, then let me just see what Roxi did after my death please" (CW) "You know what? Since you are the last on my shift then I''ll accompany you until you are transported to planet four. Follow me." She said as she smiled and led Baron to another large hall with a bunch of what appeared to be televisions connected to something high into the ceiling and floating about. "Can I get service over here?" She seemingly yelled into the void. Suddenly a tv floated over and after playing around with it she turned to Baron and said "here you go." (BM) "Thank you very much" Baron licked his lips as he focused on the tv in front of him. Once the screen came into focus he could see Roxi hugging his corpse with many tears coming out of her eyes, and many bullet wounds in her body. (CW) "Fast forward a bit" she said. The screen suddenly showed Roxi in ahospital room looking absentmindedly out of a window, obviously she was no longer behind enemy lines and was most likely in a military hospital somewhere. A doctor walked into the room, and approached Roxi. Doctor Steve (DS) "How are you today Roxi?" (RB) "...I''m Alright" She said after a pause" (DS) "So I''m sure this comes as no surprise to you but you are diagnosed as no longer fit for work on the field and will therefore be taken back to China once the next supply chopper comes, once there....." Doctor Steve kept on talking but Roxi Blaze was no longer listening as she just continued to stre out blankly into the distance. ------------------- (CW) "....and thats as much as i''m allowed to show you, unfortunately." She said to Baron as he just kept staring at the blank screen. (BM) ".....No, no its fine, you''ve done more than enough, much appreciated ma''am. (CW) "ohhhhhhhhh, I can see why your lady friend misses you so much, I bet you appreciated her when she hasn''t received any in such a long time. haha." She said smugly. (BM) "Please don''t say that with her face, I beg of you." He said solemnly (CW) "Haha, alright, alright, whatever you say. Now that we have got that out of the way its finally time for you to continue on to planet four. Come with me" She smilingly said to Baron as she led the way to another large hall with 5 big portal looking constructs in the room with labels on each of them. The portals read respectively from left to right: 1-5, 6-100, 101- 1,000, 1,000-50,000, and 50,001+. (BM) "Wow, how grand" He exclaimed (CW) "Alright since you are going to planet 4 you will go into the portal to the left, but before you go in you have to talk to the person standing in front of him." She pointed to a figure in front of one of the portals. (BM) "Is it possible for me to request something else before I leave?" He asked the Roxi lookalike. (CW) "That depends, what is your request?" She asked cautiously. (BM) "Can I embrace you? I never got the chance to do it with the real Roxi, and I would be a lot more confident in facing challenges if you grant my request." He said slowly. (CW) "Hmmmmm, alright i''m already in a good mood so why not." She smiled at Baron and went in for a hug. Baron received her and after a few seconds of embrace he let go and slowly walked towards the portal while saying " (BM) "Thank you for everything." He said affectionately while slowly letting go. "Truly, thank you." (CW) "I''ll wait for you to go into the portal before I leave" She said while waving off to Baron Magellan. Baron continued to the portal until he stopped before the man standing in front of the portal. Portal Worker (PW) "Name?" (BM) "Quasar Magellan" (PW) "I see, planet four hey?" (BM) "Yes, that''s what i''ve been told" (PW) "Good luck then, this planet is one of savages, the few who climb to the top are absolute overlords on this planet." He warned. (BM) "I''ll do my best" he said heeding the other''s warning. (PW) "Good, now give me your left hand." Baron reached out his left hand and the portal worker grabbed and stamped a big 4 on Baron''s hand. " Alright off you go." (BM) "Wait for me Roxi" He silently said to himself as he slowly stepped into the portal and disappeared into the light. (CW) "God save his soul" she said as the smile she had put up for Baron disappeared, and she left while muttering " a bad man will birth from the death of a good man" 3 The First Tes As Baron stepped out from the portal he found himself in another room full ofsmaller portals each one had a name of a country next to them.USA, Australia, South Korea, Jordsand, China. (BM) "Oh well then I should probably go into the China one, wait a minute Jordsand? I have never heard of that country before. That''s odd, i''ve spent countless hours researching the strategists and generals of every important country in the last 3000 or so years, but i''ve never heard of a place called Jordsand producing any noteworthy strategists. Must be a pretty low ranked country then." He mused to himself as he proceeded to go into the portal with China''s name on it. A bright light flashed and Baron instantly fell unconscious. ------------------------ (BM) "What happened?" Baron muttered as he slowly rose up from the bed he had been sleeping on. "Where am I?" He looked around in confusion until his sight locked onto another youth who had been sitting on another bed staring at him for who knew how long. Yue Fei (YF) "Finally, took you long enough" He exclaimed dissatisfiedly as he fell backwards onto the bed only to immediately jump onto the floor. "alright Baron as per ceremony I will grant you 5 minutes to ask questions, and after that I will have to conduct a little test on you to make sure you are at least somewhat capable enough to remain here. So is there anything that you want to know?" (BM) "Who are you?" (YF) "I am Yue Fei one of the elders of this community here. (BM) "Greetings elder, then may I inquire as to where I am?" (YF) "You are in the headquarters of the Chinese community on planet four." (BM) "Well at least I know i''m in the right place, then my next question is how do I get back to my world? The counter worker that processed me told me that I had a chance of going back to Earth, but she didn''t mention how. (YF) "Ah, so thats what you are after. Unfortunately, you must win the Death Match tournament in order to receive that privilege. It might be best to set your sights onto another target, even though the Chinese community is quite strong, top three currently, we have never won that tournament." (BM) "Not once? How many tournaments have there been? How often do they run the tournaments?" Baron said with a disappointed face. (YF) "Every one thousand years, there have only been about 13 tournaments. The next one is in 455 years." (BM) "If I won the tournament will I be able to return to the moment I died?" (YF) "Not the exact moment, but i''ve heard you can be brought back several months after you''ve died no matter how long you spend on this planet. Personally i''ve been here for over a thousand years. If you belong to any strong factions like our Chinese, then you have the added privilege of not needing to eat. Unless you want to." (BM) "Not needing to eat? Over a thousand years?" Baron exclaimed in disbelief. "Hey come on time''s up, now its time to have match against you, but be warned if you don''t perform up to standard i''m going to have to kick you out of the here and you will be left to fend for yourself out in the streets." He beckoned Baron as he quickly left the room. At this point Baron just decided to follow this quirky youth seeing as there were no other people in the room. He got up and quickly left the room. Soon after, the youth was leading the way to what appeared to be a large room where a lot of the noise was coming from. (BM) "Hey slow down." Baron yelled just as Yue Fei reached the door. (YF) " Your name is Baron Magellan right? Welcome to the strategy room" He said as he pushed open the door without waiting for a response. "Let me show you what happens inside, come on" Once they entered the room Baron was shocked, this room contained some of the most model worthy people he had ever seen. (YF) "Haha, not used to seeing this many beauties, and handsome dudes?" (BM) "...no" Baron admitted (YF) "Anyway, come over here and put this headset on" Yue Fei handed Baron a helmet looking object. (BM) "What is this? And before we begin I have a couple of questions before we begin." Baron quickly said as he held the helmet looking thing in confusion. (YF) "I''ll answer more of your questions if you can beat me in a game of strategy" Yue Fei said as he put the helmet on and instantly disappeared from the room. (BM) "Might as well I suppose." Baron said to himself quietly as he put on the helmet. ------------------ Baron''s field of view quickly changed and instantly distorted to become something similar to a game interface. (YF) "Since this is your first game i''ll have to go easy on you, in front of you you should see an interface, just pick a mode, location, and how many troops each of us gets to command."Yue Fei''s voice sounded inside Baron''s mind. (BM) "Alright just give me a sec." Baron said as he looked at the interface once again, he pressed the mode option and a list of names popped up. Naval battle (WW2), air battle (WW2), trench warfare (WW1), guerilla warfare, walled city siege (Ancient China). "Ooh I''ll pick walled city siege, i''ve studied that aspect of warfare quite a bit." He told Yue Fei. (YF) "Walled city siege hey? I am also quite good at that. Now all you have to do is decide if you want to be the defending side or attacking side." Yue Fei told Baron. (BM) "I think i''ll go...." Baron paused to think "....on the attacking side" he said as he pressed the attacking button. (YF) "Oh? I never pegged you as an aggressive guy. That''s interesting, alright now let me explain the basics of this game before we get any further. So this is what you would call a simulation match. The two of us will go onto our respective sides, and have one day to prepare a battle plan to fight each other with. This is no ordinary simulation though, in a way you could say this simulation is the closest you can get to a real life war without actually killing anyone. The generals/strategists of each army, aka us, will lead each army to clash with each other. There are a few ways to win, you can kill all the enemy soldiers, complete the objective, kill the enemy strategist, or the enemy surrenders. One last thing, since this is so realistic you will have to pay attention to your army, you will need to maintain morale of your units, their energy, and anything else that might effect their performance. Good luck." (BM) "Is that all there is to this game? Wait, an entire day to think of a strategy?" (YF) "Of course thats not all, I can''t give you all the secrets from the get go can I? As for the one day of prep, trust me that is nowhere near enough time." Yue Fei said grimly. "Alright enough talk, all you have to do now is choose the army sizes and then we can start." (BM) "Ah yes, hold on." Baron checked the interface again and pushed the army size button, a list of numbers came out. 500 vs. 500, all the way to 1 million vs. 1 million. Baron decided on 10,000 vs. 10,000. "Alright lets not get too crazy for my first time, it''ll be a 10k on 10k battle." (YF) "I usually like to go for 100k vs. 100k battles, but we''ll just do what you want to this time." He said to Baron. (BM) "Wait how long does these battles usually last?" Baron asked Yue Fei as he pushed the start button and a timer for 30 seconds appeared. (YF) "Well for just a 10k vs. 10k battle, it will usually last anywhere from 1-3 months" Yue Fei replied. 23 seconds left until game start. (BM) "That long for just one game?" 12 seconds until game start. (YF) "yes, and that assuming that one side doesn''t make a major mistake, thus ending it early. I''ve tried a few 1 million vs. 1 million battles, and let me tell you right now those take potentially up to decades. One last thing before we start, we can''t communicate with each other once we''re in, good luck." 3 seconds until game start (BM) "Decades? But I can''t wait that lo..."He started but was interrupted by the system announcement. Game Start. 4 Preparing a Strategical Plan Everything went dark for a few moments, then all of a sudden a bright flash appeared and Baron was standing in the middle of an empty camp surrounded by forests. He looked down and came to the realization that a window named troop composition popped up in midair and on it pictures and costs of each troop member. In the corner it had many statistics: food (rations), morale, trust (between the armies and strategists), performance (of army), etc. After browsing for a bit Baron finally decided on his troop composition, he had chosen to go with 1k cavalrymen, 4k infantry, 2k archers, 1k mounted archers, and 2k shield troops. (BM) "Yue Fei said that I had an entire day to formulate a strategy to win the game, best to use the time to my advantage. He looked around once more and realized that he was no longer alone in the camp, many thousands of men had appeared out of the blue and stared at him. Who are the people who created such a magnificent simulation? Baron thought to himself as he slowly walked up to the front of the army and tried to touch the soldier closest to him. Lieutenant Ben (LB) "Attention hut" as soon as these words fell from his lips every one of the soldiers behind dismounted, and knelt down before Baron. "Hello general, I am to be your lieutenant, the one in charge of relaying orders to the men below me. My name is Ben, we are all under your care." (BM) "Ah, its good to meet you Lieutenant Ben, I am Baron Magellan." My goodness these guys are even more realistic than I thought, do they have some algorithm deciding their actions? Baron mused to himself as he reached forward to touch the plate armour of Lieutenant Ben. When he made contact with the armour he felt a sense of surprise. (LB) "Sir?" Ben asked in confusion when Baron made contact with his armour. What was one supposed to do in this situation? He couldn''t get mad at his commanding officer because there should be a certain mutual understanding between the two. (BM) "Apologies, I had to..... confirm something" Baron said as he waved the matter away. (LB) "Alright then.....does esteemed general need us to do anything before we siege the city tomorrow? (BM) "For now just have the men rest up, once you finish with that task meet me in the large tent." Baron said as he pointed to the largest tent within the camp. (LB) "Your orders are my command" Ben quickly said before he turned around and ordered the troops to begin settling into the already prepared camp. Baron proceeded to walk into the large tent, and once inside he found that there was a long table with a few items placed on top. The thing that caught Baron''s interest was the map. He took the map and studied it carefully, after awhile he concluded that this map included his current location, the city he needed to siege, and a general outlay of the land. Now Baron knew why Yue Fei had said that one day of preparation is not enough time, it was because checking the surrounding terrain for advantageous warfare alone cost a great deal of time not to mention the actual strategy itself. He immediately began to circle a few points of interest on the map. A few moments later Lieutenant Ben walked in. (LB) "Greetings, general Baron, is there something that you need?." He said in admiration. (BM) "Yes greetings Ben, there is indeed an assignment for you ." (LB) "What is it general?" (BM) "I need you to bring me to these 8 spots on this map, as well as the city we will be sieging, I need to study the terrain and the walled city to better understand just how I can use these to my advantage. (LB) "Yes sir, allow me a few moments to gather the fastest horses and a few of our elite troops to accompany you." (BM) "Good, you are dismissed, I will be at the front of the camp in 20 minutes so don''t be late." (LB) "Of course sir" Ben replied respectfully before taking his leave. Baron once again studied the table, but didn''t find anything else particularly useful. Pausing in fear Baron thought to himself did Yue Fei also receive a copy of the map? Did that mean Yue Fei knew where he was at the moment? He quickly dismissed the idea, if Yue Fei does in fact know his location he could always take down camp and move locations to another place to set up camp. After all a map is a map it can''t actually track his movements. Still though, just who is it that made this game? Could it be that these troops of people that were in this camp actually real, and had free will? A few more minutes passed before Baron remembered what was important. (BM) "Either way, Yue Fei will tell me anything I want to know, so its best to just focus on beating him first." Grabbing the map Baron quickly made his way onto the front of his camp where his lieutenant had already made the preparations. Staring up into the sky Baron frowned upon realization that there seemed to be a few storm clouds passing by in the sky. The 30 or so group of horse riders then set out to scope the land. ---------------------------- Since Yue Fei was already accustomed to the Death Match game he had already set out with some of his men to check out their surroundings before Baron even managed to finish picking out his army composition. Yue Fei had chosen to not go too hard on Baron and decided to make his army somewhat simple. He had chosen to bring in 1k archers, 6k infantry, and 3k cavalry. After scouting around for a few hours Yue Fei returned to his walled city and locked himself in his room and started to concoct a strategy in which to defeat Baron with. (YF) "Know your enemy and know yourself" Yue Fei said aloud as he recounted Sun Tzu''s famous line. "Although I may not be the best strategist in the Chinese community, defeating a greenhorn like Baron should be a simple task." He said as he reviewed what he had seen today, and went over the map in his hands one more time. "It seems like much of the geography in this map has densely packed trees, thats good cover for sneaking troops around in, good for whoever takes the initiative to set up an ambush. Looks like there are only seven points of interest around the city that the both of us must be careful of. His main objective was to defend the walled city, and its better to not divide up his army so early into the game. Yue Fei diligently proceeded to make a strategy he believed would beat Baron then he suddenly yelled "Lieutenant En" towards the door. Lieutenant En (LE) "What is it Sire?" (YF) "Gather the officers, I will discuss the battle plans for tomorrow with you guys." (LE) "Let me call them now." En replied as he walked down the hall to the other officers'' rooms and knocked while shouting "let''s go, the general has a plan." (YF) "Alright so everyone listen up this will be the battle plan for tomorrow, since there are four walls I will be sending 3 officers to each walls while I will be making commands from the central tower. All of you should send a messenger to me if any interesting developments occur on your side of the wall. As for who will lead each wall, you three will be assigned to the south wall, you three will be the north wall, you three... -------------------------------- Back at Baron''s camp he was also formulating a strategy to best Yue Fei. He racked his brain to think of something, anything that could give him the edge in the upcoming battle, but the few solutions he had were risky and not very reliable. Baron dismissed Lieutenant Ben and all the other officers a long time ago, he quietly imagined hundreds of battles in his mind in order to find a way to beat Yue Fei. Baron took a few breathers here and there when he suddenly happened to see a window that he had set aside after he had chosen what his army was going to be comprised of. He saw that the person at the very top of the list was him, and compared to the normal soldiers his stats were as stong as 50 regular troops. This caused him to remember what Yue Fei had said about instantly losing if the strategists are taken out. After this discovery Baron continued to think of stratagems that he could set up now that he knew that he could help his soldiers on the battlefield instead of being a table top strategist who only saw the battlefield and his soldiers as pieces of a chessboard. Only just before dawn broke did Baron call a meeting to discuss the battle plan. The half asleep officers slowly walked into the big tent one by one. After they came in though no one dared to look sleepy as a stern faced Lieutenant Ben stared all of them down. (LB) "Attention hut, general all officers are accounted for. Whenever you are ready we will begin the strategy meeting." (BM) "Good, now that you all of you are present I will tell you of how we are going to win." Baron said with a smile creeping up his face. 5 First Day of Battle (BM) "....and once we accomplish this task, then everything else will fall into place. Remember, Lieutenant Ben, a huge portion of this plan relies on your precise timing. If I can''t stall the enemy for long enough, then we can only retreat, regroup, and make another plan." Baron warned everyone in the room. (LB) "Understood sir, shall we get ready to meet at the rendezvous point?" Ben asked in an impatient way. (BM) "Have the men eat their breakfast if they haven''t already and then have them take down the camp. We leave in 2 hours." (LB) "Just leave everything to me." Ben replied before ordering the others to do their respective tasks. In a few minutes the officers had received their own tasks and left the big tent. They completed their jobs swiftly and two hours soon passed. (BM) "All troops, forward march." Baron ordered as he whipped the reins on his horse. Thus signalling the begin of his army marching towards the rendezvous point. Baron, Lieutenant Ben, and the other officers were leading the army at the very vanguard. Given that not all the soldiers had horses, and they wanted the foot soldiers to conserve their energy they could only march at roughly the speed of normal walking. If they continued at this speed then they would reach their target location around noon, then march 2-3 hours to get to the city and start laying siege to it that very afternoon. They had just reached the halfway point to the city when a messenger whispered something in Ben''s ears, Ben pondered for a moment before speaking. (LB) "Sir." Ben said to get Baron''s attention. "It seems our scouts have located a new point of interest in the terrain northeast of our current location, and the best part is that this one doesn''t seem to be discoverable on the map." Ben exclaimed excitedly. (BM) "A new point of interest? I''ll have to go take a look then, you keep leading the march Ben." (LB) "As you command." (BM) "Messenger, lead the way. 300 cavalry on me!" Baron screamed before galloping away with the messenger accompanied by hundreds of horsemen. Messenger (M) "Here it is General Baron." The messenger respectfully said to Baron as they arrived to the foothills of a U shaped steep incline only a few meters high, and surrounded by many trees. (BM) "Mmmmmmm" Baron replied in satisfaction. "Excellent work, this discovery could very well lead us to the path of victory if utilized correctly." Baron continued to survey the land around it and played multiple simulations within his mind to see how best to turn this newfound discovery into an exploitable advantage. Officer Rick (OR) "Sir, if this terrain is so advantageous, and the enemy is unlikely to know about it will we change our plans to include this steep incline?" (BM) "No, not yet at least. We''ll stick to the original plan and use this place as a backup if we have to." After another little while Baron had finally figured out why he couldn''t see this on the map, it''s because the other places he had visited was cliffs and medium sized hills whereas this place only had a steep incline. "Very interesting, all troops back to the main army" he shouted as he led them away. By the time they met with Lieutenant Ben they had already made it to the rendezvous point about 15 kilometres south of the city walls, neither side could see each other at this point. Baron approached Lieutenant Ben. (LB) "Ah, there you are, how did it go?" (BM) "It was magnificent, and i think you are right when you said that the enemy was unlikely to have discovered such a spot, when even we disregarded it upon looking at the map." Baron replied while scanning the army. "Have the appropriate arrangements been made? (LB) "Almost sir, we are organising the last of the men as we speak." (BM) "Good, when you are done take your men and get into positions I''ll take the rest with me and lay siege to the city. If anything arises i''ll send a messenger or two to your location to inform you of any changes of our plan." (LB) "Understood Sir." --------------------------------------------------- (YF) "Why haven''t they gotten here yet? They''ve exceeded my estimates by several hours. Wait a minute, could it be that Baron still hasn''t thought of a strategy yet? He may be new to this simulation but he shouldn''t be this slow could he?" Yue Fei thought aloud. (LE) "Sir, we have received word that the army is fast approaching, but......" Lieutenant En trailed off. (YF) "Speak up what is it?" (LE) "Well..... it seems that this army only consists of about 5,000 soldiers, with enemy general Baron in the lead." (YF) "5,000? What can they accomplish with 5,000 against my 10,000? Is Baron underestimating me..... or is it something else....." Yue Fei trailed off as he looked out into the distance inside the central strategy lookout room. Returning to his senses he said "well no matter, if Baron has a strategy to pull off i''d very much like to see what he has up his sleeve. Lieutenant En, prepare the soldiers for battle even though its past optimal hours for a fight its best to be cautious against an unknown enemy like him." (LE) "Leave it to me sir." En replied and left the room to organize the troops. (YF) "Let''s just see what you can do to my army of 10,000 with your measly 5,000." -------------- (OR) "General Baron sir, will we launch an offensive today?" Officer Rick asked as he finished up ordering the army to set up camp, this time they chose a location about 3 kilometres outside the city walls. (BM) "Yes, i''d like to test out the waters before we begin our true offensive." Baron replied. "I want you to split up the 3,000 infantry troops we brought with us into 2 groups, 200 of them will stay up with me to execute one of my plans in the night, while the other 2,800 will siege the city with me during the daytime." Baron said to Rick. Through his day and a half of experience in this weirdly futuristic simulation Baron had realized that he didn''t need to eat anything, drink anything, or sleep he just needed to rest. This meant he could make preparations 24 hours a day 7 days a week, this naturally meant that Yue Fei had the same advantage as him. This did not transfer into the troops though so he had to carefully consider how much will be enough for him to successfully carry out his plan. (OR) "As you command" Rick said then immediately proceeded to carry out Baron''s order. (BM) "Now..." Baron thought to himself as he looked at the comparatively small sized city in front of him. "Let''s see how you will stop me, Yue Fei." A moment later Officer Rick returned. (OR) "Sir, the preparations are complete" (BM) "Alright, have the 2,800 infantry, 500 archers, and 500 mounted archers surround the city walls and begin attacking. The infantry will rush up to the walls and climb up the ladders we''ve prepared to try and get a foothold on the wall. The archers will begin shooting at the soldiers on the walls and tell them to shoot as fast as they can, we have no shortage of arrows." (OR) "Yes, sir." (BM) "Be quick about it, we have at most 3 hours of sunlight left before we have to call it a day." (OR) "Of course sir." Rick left and immediately barked orders to everyone. Within a short 30 minutes they had surrounded the city, and began laying siege to it. The sight of thousands of soldiers rushing to their locations caused the many soldiers'' hearts to tremble in fear, and that led to the soldiers on the wall to be extremely cautious in their movements. Once the soldiers on the ground were in range the archers on the walls let loose an uncountable number of arrows into Baron''s army. Similarly, once Baron''s archers were in range they too let loose numerous arrows into the ranks of people on the wall at an astonishing rate. One arrow is unlikely to kill someone, unless it hit them in vital organs, but with this many arrows whose to say? The two sides clashed for two hours before Baron sounded the retreat signal. The sun was about to set, and their opening clash had made Baron grasp a characteristic of Yue Fei''s. Baron realized that from what he saw just now, Yue Fei did not partake in any of the battles on any of the four walls, Baron reckoned that since he had the stats equal to 50 regular men then Yue Fei should too. This meant that Yue Fei was only concerned about being the strategist and not about thinning his enemy''s army. If this continued to be the case, then Baron''s initial plan was a total waste of his time. "Not good" Baron thought to himself. Baron entered the big tent where all the officers were gathered. (BM) "Night is about to set, have the 200 infantrymen you picked out earlier to meet me at the front of the camp, and prepare 200 fresh mounts" he ordered Rick. Rick quickly nodded and left to gather the 200 infantrymen and horses. Soon the 200 and Baron set off quietly from the camp all of them on horses rushing towards the walled city. On the eve of the first day of battle, Baron''s attacking army clashed with Yue Fei''s defending army, and both sides suffered some deaths and many, many injuries. In the two hours they had clashed each side lost about 300 soldiers. At the end of the fighting Baron''s surviving army totalled 4,700 to Yue Fei''s 9,700. That night a few more people died due to their injuries. 6 No Victory Without Risk After reaching the walled city in the dead of the night, Baron finally revealed to the 200 what his plans are for sneaking to the area outside the city walls were. The moon was covered by many clouds and there wasn''t much moonlight shining through. Perfect for a night operation like this. The men had received orders to cover any of their skin not covered up by their armour to be smeared with a dark substance so as to be harder for their enemies to see them at night. (BM) "Alright boys, this is what we are going to do" Baron said as he grabbed a torch from the officer he had picked to lead this night activity. "First of all each one of you is going to grab a length of firecrackers, spread out around the walled city and light them up once every hour until the sun rises. If any of you encounter any enemies don''t hesitate throw away your torch and retreat, and come to the rendezvous point after shaking off your enemies. Our goal here is not to fight the enemy, but to cause the enemy soldiers to hear these firecracker explosions and go into a constant state of confusion. Once the first crack of sunlight appears you are to immediately retreat back to camp." Baron ordered as he started handing out the firecrackers to the men, he had prepared them beforehand and hidden multiple stashes close to the city walls camouflaged by underbrush and trees. He had accomplished this when the two armies had clashed earlier. Officer Phillips (OP) "Alright everyone, you have your assignments. Once you reach your designated location immediately set off the firecrackers, wait for an hour then light another batch up again. Safety is most important, so if you are found out immediately light up all of your firecrackers, throw away your torch, try to shake the enemy, and return to the rendezvous points you are assigned to. Good luck men, and remember to prioritize safety" Phillips ordered before he himself grabbed a couple of firecrackers and turned to leave with the rest of the men. (BM) "Hold on Phillips, I need to talk with you before you leave, everyone else you are free to go complete your tasks." Baron said before Phillips left, Phillips turned around. (OP) "What is it boss?" (BM) "I need you to be the most careful out there, a good officer is worth a lot more than regular soldiers. Officers aren''t just higher ranking than regular soldiers, they have been through much more warfare than the others, and therefore have capabilities to lead men. I cannot have you dying on me." Baron warned Phillips. (OP) "Of course sir, I''ll do my best" Phillips replied before setting out to his position. A few moments later the first of the firecrackers could be heard going off in the distance, the first to light up the firecrackers would naturally be the ones assigned closest to the location they just met up at. The ones that were assigned further away got to their positions a little bit later so they lit up their firecrackers a bit later as well. This way loud firecrackers could be heard going off constantly, and while the firecracker noises couldn''t even reach the halfway point inside the city, with so many noises a huge portion of the army that was sleeping was woken up immediately. They continued throughout the night without taking any casualties. ----------------- (LE) "Sir, there seems to be firecracker noises resounding throughout the city, and these noises have woken up many of the soldiers." Lieutenant En quickly briefed Yue Fei. (YF) "Why haven''t I heard anything?" Yue Fei asked while immediately standing up. (LE) "It seems these firecrackers are modified to create less noise than the ones we have in our storage." (YF) "Are they going for quantity over quality?" Yue Fei thought to himself before ordering "they are just using this to create confusion among the ranks, double the guards on the wall just in case they are planning something else for tonight. Give the order for the rest of the men to continue resting." (LE) "Yes sir, are we going to do anything about the trouble makers outside then?" (YF) "No need, there isn''t much moonlight tonight so searching around for them will not be a good idea, plus what if they have planned for us and set up multiple ambushes? It''s best to conserve our troops'' manpower." Yue Fei replied to En as he waved him off. "Baron Magellan, I did not think you would employ such tactics on the very first day of battle. You are quite the surprising opponent, but I will not fall for your ploys" he thought aloud. -------------------------- In the morning the 200 troops arrived back at their camp just when the rest of the army had awoken from their peaceful night of rest. Baron had retreated back to the camp a few hours earlier to make more strategies. As he stepped out of his tent he noticed the 200 talking to the other soldiers and immediately called for an army briefing. (BM) "Everyone, please give me your attention. I have sent these brave men into possibly the most dangerous situation they have ever been, and gave them objectives. They not only accomplished the tasks perfectly, but all of them have returned perfectly fine. Give these heroes of the night a round of applause everybody!"Suddenly, their camp exploded into a frenzy of applause and supportive shouts. Baron smiled in satisfaction at the surge of morale in his army. "Thats what i''m talking about" "Oooooh kill''em" "Let''s gooooooooo" The 200 stared around them when they became the centre of attention, some looked around dumbly, while others grinned uncontrollably. They had actually accomplished such a simple errand and in return they became instant celebrities. This simple speech had an enormous impact on battlefield, this not only raised Baron''s soldiers'' morale it also kept the majority of Yue Fei''s army up for much of the night. Yue Fei''s army consisted of many fatigued soldiers, and this caused a loss of morale on that side. (BM) "Alright everyone, eat your breakfast and prepare for war, the enemy should be fatigued right now and won''t be able to perform as well as yesterday. Today, I will be joining you guys in the battle to take the wall and I don''t want to see any of you slacking off, have I made myself clear!" Baron shouted to his army. "YES, SIRRRRRRRR" the many soldiers shouted back in passion, causing another wave of increased morale. (BM) "The 200 of you go back and rest, you will continue to do your assignments tonight if conditions remain the same. Good work all of you, at the moment the 200 of you have even more respect than some of my officers." Baron smilingly said to the 200. (OP) "Thank you sir, praise from you is already encouragement enough, but the feeling of unity that we just had back there truly tugs at my heartstrings." Officer Phillips replied before ordering "alright everyone, please take your hard earned rest and be prepared to do it again tonight." "Yes, sir" the 200 replied and dispersed into their shared tents chatting away at all the buzz they had created just moments ago. The battle of the second day started with a huge morale boost for the attacking army while a hugeloss of morale for the defending army. With Baron personally taking the lead to charge into the enemy ranks with a glaive in hand, none of the soldiers beside him showed any sign of weakness and willingly threw themselves at the enemy soldiers. Baron didn''t take to the field to thin down the enemy ranks with his huge hp bar advantage, but to actually draw out Yue Fei to attampt a 1vs1 battle against generals of two armies. However, no matter how low Baron''s hp got, Yue Fei never showed up. (BM) "Where are you Yue Fei? I know that you know I''m here, so why aren''t you showing yourself?" Baron yelled out into the enemy ranks. Just like this the second day of battle concluded without any major developments occurring. However, with Baron charging in first and the difference in morale of both armies could surely be seen in the number of surviving soldiers on each side. At the end of the day, Baron''s army consisted of 4,250 to Yue Fei''s 8,700. Most of these deaths were infantrymen, Baron had lost about 450 men, while Yue Fei lost almost a thousand. Although Baron''s army managed to gain multiple footholds onto the wall that day, they were ultimately pushed back. This didn''t cause too much of a drop in morale though, because of the existence of the 200 that would once again set out into enemy territory and cause even more devastation than yesterday night. In the attacking armies side Baron Magellan was the only one that was not satisfied with the current situation. He had expected Yue Fei to at least show up when he had less than a quarter hp left but Yue Fei hadn''t shown up. This caused him to feel a slight uneasiness, if Yue Fei continued to not show up then he would have to change his strategy. Baron approached Officer Phillips before he and the 200 left to set off firecrackers once again. (BM) "Phillips, tell your men to not get too cocky. They still need to prioritize their own safety, and judging by the presence of even more clouds tonight than last night there might be some rain incoming. If the rain falls during the night then immediately have all troops retreat back to camp." (OP) "You got it boss." He said as he turned around to relay Baron''s orders and soon the group silently slipped into the night preparing to once again disturb the enemy soldiers with firecrackers. 7 A Grave Mistake The group of 200 executed their assignments perfectly yet again, but couldn''t go through the entire night setting off these firecrackers as rain fell down a few hours before dawn. This wasn''t a big deal as they had once again dealt a devastating blow to Yue Fei''s army. By the time that the sun came up it was still pouring so Baron could only postpone the day''s siege. In the meantime Baron once again gathered the troops and delivered another speech to improve morale. Once the rain let up, the armies began another fierce fight. At the end of the day, even with Baron''s help, the army could not keep up its momentum like they had yesterday. Even so the the tally at the end of the day came out to Baron''s 3,800 to Yue Fei''s 8,000. Numerically speaking Baron had the upper hand if you counted his perfectly untouched army of 5,000 waiting for an order somewhere else. However, Baron was still unsatisfied with how he hadn''t managed to lure Yue Fei out. This had him worried as he believed Yue Fei had a reason for not showing up despite his army being oppressed in such a way. As night fell the 200 this time did not go in to set up fireworks like they had the previous nights, instead they were laughing it up with the rest of the army regaling their war stories. In an attempt to keep spirits up, Baron had the officers distribute a bit of wine to the soldiers. This simple gesture and the liveliness that ensued caused the morale in their team to soar yet again. ----------------------- (LE) "Sir, it seems that the enemy has chosen to not engage in their annoying activities tonight." Lieutenant En briefed Yue Fei with a sense of happiness. "Our many soldiers will finally be able to get their much deserved peaceful rest." (YF) "The only reason they aren''t doing it tonight is because the moon''s light is shining very brightly. Thus causing them to be likelier to be seen if we actually went out to hunt them down. Enough of that, have the scouts located the enemy base?" (LE) "Yes sir, we now know where the enemy camp is and can charge into it whenever you please." En said with a smile slowly showing on his face. (YF) "I think its best if I personally go and have a look at what their defences are for their camp. Along with a few bodyguards of course. Have them be ready in an hour by the south gates." (LE) "As you command" En said and left to make the appropriate preparations. A short while later a group of about 50 horse riders could be seen quietly leaving the walled city personally led by the general Yue Fei himself. They made their way to Baron''s camp, and once they arrived they hid behind trees and slowly rode on horseback the entire perimeter of Baron''s army. All the while Yue Fei studied the patrols actions, and shift changes along the way. After a few hours of slowly investigating, Yue Fei had realized a serious problem in Baron''s army. Many of them were drinking and had their guard down. How unfortunate Yue Fei thought, if he had not been so conservative and had more soldiers accompany him then he might''ve had a chance to deal a serious blow to Baron''s army tonight. Even if he sent word back to camp now, ordering more cavalry to come attack, it would not have as much of an effect compared to when he had an entire night to do so. Yue Fei quickly ordered a retreat and all the horsemen he had brought with him left as quietly as they had come. Once back at the city, Yue Fei immediately had his lieutenant give out numerous orders. (YF) "Lieutenant, first of all, since it is still nighttime have 2,000 of my 3,000 cavalry spread out around Baron''s camp, but make sure they are a good distance away. Once tomorrow evening comes along they are to attack the enemy camp at these three points I have circled for you." Yue Fei handed over a map to En. (LE) "Excellent, the enemy won''t know what hit them." (YF) "Lieutenant En, you are to personally lead one of these attachments to break into the enemy camp, I want you to pick another two officers and have them leave immediately to their positions." (LE) "Yes sir, the cavalry has been a little unbearable since they haven''t been able to do any of the fighting on the walls they will be overjoyed upon hearing this piece of news." (YF) "Quickly make the necessary precautions and set off before the sun rises, speed is of the essence. Remember En, whether you succeed or fail will determine the outcome of this battle. Don''t let me down." Yue Fei cautioned his lieutenant. (LE) "Worry not sir, leave everything to me. There is no way that Baron could have predicted a development as grand as this." En left the room to lay the groundwork of what could be Baron''s demise. ----------------- With the night behind them, the two armies once again went head to head, but today Baron had a little surprise for his enemy. An hour before noon Baron had ordered all forces to retreat to a few meters outside the range of the enemy archers, and had his 500 cavalrymen run to just before the enemy archers'' range and drop off the wagon that they had brought with them, all around the city.These wagons that they had brought with them contained many dead sticks and chopped wood. The soldiers quickly lit these slightly damp kindling up with the help of animal fats and other flammable materials, within a short few minutes these lit up branches created a makeshift smoke-screen that blocked the enemy from seeing what they were doing. Baron had quite a surprise waiting for Yue Fei''s army. --------------- (YF) " What? Why would they expend so much effort into blocking our view of them? What could they possibly want to hide from us?" Yue Fei said after hearing of the news. Officer mike (OM) "I''m not too sure general, but we''ll find out soo..." Mike was about to say before a messenger burst into the room as if he had been running for his life. (M) "Apologies for my rudeness, but I have some news. There have been multiple sightings of siege towers appearing from the smoke screen." The messenger hurriedly said. (Siege towers) are tall, mobile, usually wooden structures that are used by attacking armies to breach the walls of the defenders much more easily. It basically funnels soldiers on the ground up to the walls while protecting the soldiers from arrows when they are climbing up the siege tower. The big disadvantage is that it is usually quite heavy so although it is mobile it is very slow. Some can be disassembled to be transported easier. (YF) "Siege towers? Why have they chose now to use such gadgets? It doesn''t matter just shoot it down with fire arrows, once they are on fire the enemy will no longer be able to use them anymore." Yue Fei quickly ordered. (M) "I''m sorry sir, but the troops have already tried. It seems that the siege towers are a little damp, possibly because of rain the previous day. So shooting it down with fire arrows is not a possibility" (YF) "Mike!" (OM) "Yes, sir" (YF) "You go lead the wall that is struggling the most and relay to the other officers that no matter what, we must not fall today." (OM) "As you wish....." Mike started but was interrupted when another messenger arrived and quickly informed the two of another situation. (M) "Sir, the north wall and the east wall are having difficulties hanging on, they request immediate backup." (YF) "Dammit, those two walls are the ones where Lieutenant En took out one officer each last night. Officer Mike, quickly go to the north wall, I''ll personally lead the soldiers on the east wall. Make haste." The two quickly left the strategy room and headed for their respective walls. At the end of the day, although they had pushed back the enemy, they had paid a huge price to do so. The tally for the end of the day totalled Baron''s 3,000 to Yue Fei''s 6,600. Another overwhelming victory for Baron. However, tonight was the night that Yue Fei had ordered Lieutenant En to lead one of three strike teams to terrorize baron''s army in the middle of the night. They may only have 2,000 cavalrymen while the army had 3,000, but this group of cavalry was fully rested while Baron''s army was fatigued from yet another day of battle. Their main objective, to kill Baron Magellan. (YF) "Enjoy this victory while you can Baron, after tonight you won''t have the luxury of such high morale, and momentum again." Yue Fei satisfiedly mused to himself. 8 The Sincerest Sacrifice After the battlefield settled down, Lieutenant En heard of the grave situation that their army was in, this made En even more fired up to bring down Baron tonight. Soon the darkness of the night came along, and Lieutenant En sent a messenger to both of the other two officers he had picked the previous night to lead this night incursion. With accuracy, and precise timing the three large body of cavalry struck at the weak points of the enemy camp and easily broke through the patrols and started to hunt down Baron. After they entered though, the place was filled with many noises. Some of which were soldiers shouting enemy attack, while others were cursing for being woken up in the middle of the night, most were people who were confused as to what was happening. Messenger (M) "Sir, our camp has been breachedby multiple cavalry units" (BM) "How many enemy troops in total?" (M) "There appears to be about 1500-2000." (BM) "How many losses have we taken so far?" (M) "Not too many, only about a hundred." (BM) "That little?" Baron was confused, the point of a night incursion was to use the element of surprise to deal a serious blow to the enemy. (M) "They seem to be avoiding most of the troops sir." (BM) "No wonder." Baron finally realized what they were planning to do in this night raid. They wanted to kill him while everyone was running around in confusion. "Tell me who is leading this raid" (M) "Going by our reports, it seems to be the work of the enemy lieutenant and two enemy officers." The messenger quickly replied. (BM) "Oh" Baron said thoughtfully. Thinking for awhile, he quickly thought of a perfect solution to this ordeal.Baron grabbed a piece of paper scribbled something on it, handed it over to the messenger and said "quickly send this message to Lieutenant Ben" (M) "Yes, sir" he grabbed the piece of paper and immediately set out to deliver the message to the lieutenant. When the messenger left, Baron grabbed the weapon closest to him, a spear, and set out to lead a counterattack against the marauders. However, against opponents who were resting the entire day Baron''s army could not hold them back. The two sides went back and forth a couple of times until the detachment that Lieutenant En was leading happened to spot Baron battling it out with another detachment. Baron could barely hold on against one detachment, but against two even he was no match for them. Just when his forces was about to seemingly crumple in front of the pressure, a ray of hope came out of the darkness. Officer Phillips, who had set out to light firecrackers with the 200 men, returned back to camp to rescue Baron. This surprising turn of events had upset what was imminent defeat for Baron. Phillips came up to Baron with an empty horse and handed over the reins to Baron. (OP) "Boss, we have to get you out of here." (BM) "No, we have to stay and fight for a little while longer." Baron said while thinking of his plan to deal with these enemy cavalry. (OP) "Are you serious?" Phillips was in absolute shock, so much so that he got off his horse and gave Baron a satisfying backhand. "If we stay here any longer the only thing we''ll accomplish is more deaths on our side. We have to lure them away" (BM) "You''re right" Baron said surprised by the actions of Phillips. He had originally wanted to keep the enemy stalled for a bit longer to give Ben enough time to act according to their newly devised plan. (OP) "Good, now get on the horse and follow me. We''ve opened up a path to retreat when we came in to rescue you." (BM) "Good man, lets set out now" Baron said with satisfaction. As Baron retreated with the 200 soldiers Lieutenant En immediately ordered what was left of the 2,000 cavalry to immediately give chase and to bring down Baron Magellan. Baron led the 200 to the U shaped steep incline they had found on the first day of battle. This action confused En as he was sure that Baron would have gone to one of the places where he and Yue Fei scouted out on the day of preparation. It should be known that during this day of waiting En was not sitting idly waiting for night to fall, he had actually ordered the troops to do multiple exercises on the 7 points of interest that their side has found in order to better prepare to fight in them should they have to. How could En know that there was another advantageous position that he was not aware of, two in fact. While Yue Fei had scouted out 7 points of interest, Baron had scouted 8 + the one they found while marching over to the walled city on the first day. Thus Lieutenant En believed Baron did not have a plan, but was just running away for the sake of running away. He felt evermore confident that he could bring down Baron tonight so he ordered the troops to increase their speed to take out Baron faster. The quickest of his men were soon almost upon the slowest of Baron''s men. These men weren''t slouches once the enemy was in range they immediately turned around in order to try and stall the enemy for as long as possible. Baron ran around in circles in an attempt to give his lieutenant Ben more time to mobilize their troops into the optimal placement. This went on for a while before Baron''s army consisted of less than 100 soldiers. Phillips was starting to get worried as the enemy seemed to be relentless in their pursuit. (OP) "Boss, how long do we still have to go in order to reach our destination?" Phillips said with worry showing on his face. (BM) "Still a ways to go, unfortunately." (OP) "If we keep going on like this then we are unlikely to reach our destination before our enemies reach you, boss." (BM) "Oh, your perception is quite sharp, what do you suggest?" (OP) "Well, since you are the general here your safety should be prioritized. The rest of us are merely pawns and we should mount a suicide charge into the enemy ranks in order to stall them for a bit." This time Baron gave Phillips a good slap to the face, hard enough for Phillips to almost fall off his horse. (BM) "Never say that" Baron had a visible scowl on his face. "Every life is precious, I will not let you guys think that lowly of yourselves." (OP) "S-sir?" Phillips was stunned at how much Baron cared for the lives of the many troops under him, a feeling of respect rose in his heart. Thinking for a while Phillips spoke up again "even if that is your philosophy you are still the most important person here, boss. Whether you like it or not we will have to mount a suicidal charge into the enemy." (BM) "So do you have a plan?" Baron asked with complex thoughts in his mind. (OP) "I will split the men we have now into two groups, then branch off and create a wedge formation and strike the enemy on their sides. This should allow you the maximum amount of time to get to the destination." (BM) "That is an admirable plan, but I want you to promise me one thing before you leave." (OP) "What is it boss?" (BM) "Promise me that you will meet me back at camp in the morning." (OP) "You got it boss" Phillips said while ordering the troops to begin branching off and mounting a counter offensive. ------------------- On Lieutenant En''s side they were high on morale and adrenaline. After they wreaked havoc in their enemy''s camp they are now chasing after the enemy general. Officer Gordon (OG) "Sir it seems everyone but the enemy general has disappeared into the forests to the left and right where we can''t see them. Should we give chase?" Gordon asked his superior, lieutenant En. (LE) "No need, our main objective is to kill Baron. If those others are smart they would leave this area immediately. Which is what i''ve assumed they did just now. Increase our running speed, we only have one target in front of us now, this should be easy." (OG) "Yes, sir" Gordon said while giving out the orders. They continued to pursue Baron, but after awhile they heard sounds of fighting behind them. (LE) "Status report!" (OG) "It seems that the enemies that branched off earlier has returned and hit our weak spots towards the back of our army, where the tired soldiers are." (LE) "How is this possible?" En stared in disbelief as the chaos unfolded behind him. "How has Baron managed to convince these soldiers to mount a charge into enemy ranks willingly?" En suddenly remembered a warning that Yue Fei had given to him before he set off to lay the groundwork of tonight''s night attack. Yue Fei had said to immediately run if he was facing any enemies who were fighting for the sake of bringing down as many lives as they could with them. These awakened soldiers, as Yue Fei called them, were capable of feats that staggered belief, and to kill these men would require a heavy price. (OG) "Sir what do we do?" (LE) "I don''t believe this nonsense of awakened soldiers or whatever, split up half the army to deal with these less than one hundred soldiers and kill them off quickly. You and the other officer go take them down, I''ll continue to pursue Baron." (OG) "Yes sir." Giving out the proper orders the army split into two and immediately surrounded Officer Phillips and his men. (OP) "What? You think a thousand men will be enough to stop us?" Phillips laughed into the heavens. "Everyone, heed my words, you are not allowed to die until you have personally slain 10 enemy soldiers, I''ll personally kill 50 soldiers myself, so all of you don''t have an excuse to be lazy!" Phillips orderedhis men. Everyone (E) "Hoo-ah" everyone replied in absolute and resolute unison. This simple speech that Phillips gave off inside an enemy encirclement before the monstrosity that followed would bring a chill to everyone''s spine. In the end, Officer Phillips gave a great performance and slew 20 enemies plus an enemy officer before being stabbed in the back and falling off his horse as lifeless as a doll. This demonic last stand of unparalleled strength had terrified everyone present. The soldiers who fell to these less than 100 soldiers tallied up to over 400 cavalry. It was indeed as Yue Fei had said. In this instance it definitely would''ve been better to just run. (OG) "The lieutenant will not be happy about this." He said grimly as he ordered the remaining surviving parts of the cavalry into an organized formation. Then quietly set off into the night to where Lieutenant En was, with the fear of Baron''s men still present in their hearts. 9 Either Way, Victory is Mine Lieutenant En was naturally not aware of this disastrous result that had befallen his army. Once Officer Gordon caught up to En and briefed him on what had happened he knew that he had royally screwed up, and was horrified upon hearing what those dying men had achieved. En entered a state of deep thought. (LE) "It doesn''t matter, if we can kill Baron Magellan then i''m willing to sacrifice another thousand. However the loss of our other officer is quite regrettable." (OG) "Quite, sir." Gordon said grimly. "What''s the situation with killing the enemy general?" (LE) "Pretty good actually, from what I gather we''ll have trapped him in another 30 minutes" (OG) "Oh that''s excellent news" A few moments later, to the surprise of Lieutenant En''s army, Baron suddenly stopped in front of a U shaped mound and turned around to meet his enemies. (BM) "Welcome, you must be the lieutenant of Yue Fei''s army. Might I ask for your name?" (LE) "I am lieutenant En" (BM) "En is it? I''ll give you two choices, maybe a third one later if everything goes according to plan. The first choice is that you leave immediately and you will take no further casualties." (OG) "Lieutenant En, he''s not serious is he? I mean he expects us to leave given the fact that we have him trapped?" (LE) "No matter, we''ve got time. Might as well humor him for a bit." He told officer Gordon as he let out a quiet chuckle. The he yelled to Baron "Oh? And what''s the second option?" (BM) "I like this second option and I''m sure this is the one that you''ll pick." (LE) "And that would be...." En started to get a little annoyed at how Baron seemed to drag this encounter on. (BM) "Or you can rush at me with all you''ve got and I''ll make sure to give all of you a proper burial." Baron yelled back with a face full of mocking intent. (OG) "You... You dare to joke in such dire circumstances?" As soon as this sentence left his mouth En stopped him with a simple gesture and gave Gordon a dissatisfied glare. Seemingly saying why are you falling for such obvious gimmicks. (LE) "Oh, that''s quite amusing General Baron, then please pray tell how are you going to achieve this task? You are alone against a vast army, you''ve got no reinforcements, no strategy can help you now." En bellowed. (BM) "So I take it you''ve made your choice, Lieutenant En?" Baron asked in an anticipating way. (LE) "Yes I have, all troops. Bring me that man''s head!" En signalled his army to advance by pointing at Baron. It''s an awe inspiring sight, having a single lone horsemen go up against an army of almost 1,500 horsemen.Out of the blue, his lieutenant Ben had appeared right next to him. (LB) "Sir, the preparations are complete, whenever you feel like it give the order and we will massacre them." Ben whispered in Baron''s ear. (BM) "Don''t use that word" Baron stared at Ben with a look of disgust then shifted his gaze back to the fastly approaching enemy. Ben didn''t know what to say so he remained silent as he too stared at the enemy. Baron slowly raised his hand up and shouted "all troops, surround the enemy." What had originally been En''s army cornering Baron into terrain where he had to dismount in order to advance had swiftly changed. Now, En''s army was surrounded to the back by thousands of cavalry men, and mounted archers, and to the front of them rushed forward thousands more shield troops, archers, and infantry. (BM) "Attack." This one simple word from Baron caused many of the soldiers in En''s army to be completely stricken with fear. After all, this new army that had emerged was the perfectly untouched 5,000 men that Baron had sent away at the first day of battle. Their existence had been totally forgotten by Lieutenant En and Officer Gordon. This time their screw up was at a monumental scale, not only did they lead 1,500 troops to be slaughtered but just the low morale of the troops overall was rock bottom. This lack of morale meant that they wouldn''t be able to achieve the awakening effect that Officer Phillips had managed just a few hours prior. En could only grit his teeth as he give out an order as he looked at his army that had stopped dead in their tracks. (LE) "It doesn''t matter how many enemies come at us, kill the general Baron and this trade would be extremely worthwhile. CHARGE AT BARON" (BM) "This fool....has chosen to fight head on instead of trying to break out?" Baron questioned as he looked at the few thousand troops now stationed in front of him. All of them were on foot so they could descend the steep incline relatively easily. "Shield troops, form a defensive blockade and wait for them to come to you. Infantry, you are to kill any cavalry that manage to make it through the blockade. Cavalry, get into multiple small groups, form a wedge formation, and nip at the heels of the army since you are behind them. Archers, and mounted archers just focus on shooting." Baron swiftly gave the orders and the enemy offensive almost immediately crumpled under the overwhelming coordination of Baron''s army. The battle continued on long into the night. When the first light of daybreak came, the results were clear. Under Baron''s flawless leadership his army suffered minimal losses while almost all of En''s troops had been eradicated. Now, only 400 cavalry remain of the original 2,000 sent out to kill Baron just a few hours ago, and in the chaos Officer Gordon also fell on the battlefield. Seeing that the enemy troops became more and more savage as another one of their brothers fell, Baron decided to finally propose the third option that he had told lieutenant En about seemingly an infinitely long time ago. (BM) "Cease fighting" Baron ordered as he guided his horse towards the location of enemy lieutenant En. Everyone was confused. Just what was Baron trying to achieve by this crazy act? (LE) (panting heavily) "What is the meaning of this?" En questioned Baron as the two finally met face to face. He had attempted to raise morale by fighting alongside his men only to minimal effect. He would naturally be fatigued after fighting for so long. (BM) "I''d like to cease your pointless struggle" Baron said indifferently "How about a trade?" (LE) "A....a trade, what kind of trade?" En was super suspicious of this so called trade. (BM) "I don''t care too much for killing, but I do like to win. With this in mind let''s make a deal. You become my captive, and I''ll let all of these men go." (LE) "Me? Become your captive, in order to let these men get out alive?" En was still skeptical. "How do I know I can trust you?" (BM) "....you are going to have to trust me." Baron said after a small pause. "The choice is yours, either become my prisoner or all of these men will die here right now." (LE) "I...." En started before he stopped to weigh the pros and cons of each decision. He realized that in both circumstances Baron would come out ahead either way. If he chose to become their prisoner, these people could easily kill him and parade his head on a stick to the rest of Yue Fei''s army. Thus lowering a huge amount of morale. However, if he chose to continue fighting then just how many present would support this decision? In the end he stayed quiet. Baron chose to approach the enemy at this moment because the enemy was starting to get into that awakened state of throwing their lives away just to take out as many enemies as they could before dying. Such a vicious mentality even Baron wasn''t sure he could use tactics to overcome such ferocity without taking a lot of casualties on his side. This option he had given En was also meant to divide, and separate the remaining 400 cavalry and render them unable to get into that demonic state of mind again. (LE) "I think..."En inhaled deeply, "I think its best if I hand over myself quietly." (BM) "Excellent choice Lieutenant. Now get off your horse and put your hands behind your back." Baron ordered. "You there, tie him up with rope." (LE) "Remember your promise" En said feeling defeated. (BM) "Don''t worry, I won''t go back on my word. All troops make a path for the enemy to escape." The soldiers of Baron''s army complied and soon the 400 left without another word spoken. Once the enemy left the soldiers left remaining was feeling on overwhelming sense of relief. They had continuously fought through the night, and came out victorious. (BM) "Let''s get back to camp, we need to regroup with the others. After a few hours of rest we will once again do battle on the wall. Put Lieutenant En in a wagon and drag him back to camp." (LB) "Can i ask, why did you let those 400 men go just now?" Ben was still shocked at the turn of events that Baron Magellan had created. (BM) "Oh that''s easy, since these guys have free will, they will naturally tell stories of their encounter with me tonight to the other soldiers. With the way I handled them they are bound to see me in an unbeatable light. This fear will transfer from the cavalry to the rest of the troops and impact their morale for the upcoming battles. This is a form of psychological warfare. Victory is close, we will have the city within two days time. On the morning of the 6th day since the battle started Baron''s total army numbered 7,500 to Yue Fei''s 4,000. Using unconventional tactics Baron managed to deal more than twice as much deaths to the enemy than his army. 10 The Start of a Great Brotherhood As soon as Baron regrouped and reorganized the entire army he decided to not engage the enemy, and let his men have a day of break. Before he let his men off though he had to relocate his camp since Yue Fei knew where it was and could possibly launch another night raid. Once they relocated a little further away then they originally set up camp, Baron spent the majority of the day planning other strategies now that he had all of his army in one place. A blue button appeared in his vision reading "Give the enemy a chance to surrender?" and a yes or no button right below it. Baron hesitated for a moment before leaning to hit the yes button. (LE) "I wouldn''t if I were you." Lieutenant En said seated in a chair still tied up by rope. (BM) "Oh, how do you know what I''m about to do?" (LE) "I am a part if the system, and I exist as a sort of advisor to the general, and other times I lead upon the general''s orders." (BM) "Thats quite interesting, so why shouldn''t I give Yue Fei a chance to surrender?" (LE) "Allowing a surrender is a sign of the ultimate disrespect to your opponent. Losing a simulation isn''t that big of a deal, but surrendering is akito saying you have lost the will to fight. I''m sure you''ve heard of how merciless this world can be right?" (BM) "Yes, but what does that have anything to do with it?" (LE) "Even if I haven''t been actually on planet four I have heard all sorts of stories. The saddest of which is if you even get offered to surrender, it will leave a big stain on a persons track record. Ultimately, everyone will look down on you, and shun you for being weak." (BM) "Oh, well I guess that makes sense. Especially if you lost to a junior, that would be beyond embarrassing even if you were going easy on them." Baron slowly retracted his hand from the button, and it disappeared from his sight. "Yue Fei is just testing me to see if I have any ability in warfare, no point in ruining his reputation when he is just following orders. Then tell me Lieutenant En, is everyone here besides me and Yue Fei simulations?" (LE) "Yes, why do you ask?" (BM) "I''m just wondering...who on Earth made such an advanced system so as to allow war that involves millions of people? I''ve seen my soldiers, they are all unique and free willed, not one of them are the same person. Just this aspect of this game is probably hundreds of years away from what humans could achieve back when I died on Earth in 2020." (LE) "I''m not too sure, I''m not authorized to know." (BM) "This world just keeps on getting more and more mysterious the longer I live here." Baron sighed in resignation. After this conversation Baron continued to think about strategies in which he could beat Yue Fei with. -------------------------- Officer Mike (OM) "Sir, status report has come in and you will not like the results." (YF) "What happened? I thought it was weird that Lieutenant En took the entire night to kill Baron. Seeing as I haven''t been transported out of this simulation by now En must have failed." (OM) "Lieutenant En has been taken as a prisoner by the enemy so as to allow the last 400 of the cavalry we sent out to return safely. The men that returned has had their morale absolutely crushed by Baron. According to our reports the other two officers fell in battle." (YF) "Where are the men now?" (OM) "Ten of the cavalrymen have come to deliver the report while the others have returned to their original positions right beside the infantry." (YF) "Call all of them back to here, immediately." Yue Fei said with a dark face. (OM) "Yes, sir" he said and quietly left. Yue Fei realized almost as soon as he heard that En was captured, Baron was employing psywar (psychological warfare) tactics to rob his men of their already low morale. I will not allow you to use my own soldiers to do your bidding Baron! Yue Fei thought in his mind. By the time the soldiers were rounded up though, the stories and rumours that spread through his ranks were unstoppable. He had lost most of the trust of his men, and why shouldn''t they doubt him? When they were going against Baron''s 5,000 in the first few days of the battle Baron had kept the upper hand even though Yue Fei had an army twice the size. Now that Yue Fei''s hidden ace was revealed, and foiled by Baron he no longer had any advantage. Yue Fei felt absolutely terrible. Not only was he going to lose to someone much younger than him, but he will also get a lot of disdain from the elders council that he is a part of once he goes in to give them his report of Baron''s abilities. It will be a new precedent if he actually lost this simulation, even if he was holding back from the very beginning. His position on the council right now was very precarious, he had spent over a thousand years and he just barely managed to get on the council. He was the 98th elder out of a total of 100, and that might change soon if he didn''t make any alliances with anyone soon. He had managed to get this far on his own but this seemed to be his limit. He remained in deep thought for the remainder of the day. At the end of the sixth day there was no clash, and since Baron didn''t make another squad to scare Yue Fei''s troops in the middle of the night the night remained peaceful as well. Baron''s roughly 7,500 troops against Yue Fei''s roughly 4,000 will duke it out on the seventh day of battle. --------------------- As the first rays of light touched the ground, a thundering sound could be heard marching towards the city wall. This army was naturally the army at Baron''s disposal, they numbered 7,500 and almost outnumbered their enemies by twice as much troops. Their morale was sky high. The assault this time was different than the previous ones as Baron planned to use all the resources to break through against the West wall of the city. He had figured out that as of now the East wall was the wall that put up the most resistance, so if he himself attacked the West wall then the East wall would not be able to send any reinforcements to help. Baron figured if Yue Fei hadn''t changed anything in the past day or two then Yue Fei would still be personally leading the defence on the East wall. However, Baron wasn''t completely sure Yue Fei hadn''t changed his plans so he just had his army continue on the assault like normal and sat back to observe the situation on the walls. After gathering the necessary evidence he ordered the siege engines to be soaked in water and to set out immediately. There was a change in how he had the siege towers approach this time. When he brought it out last time he had two towers for every wall, now he had sent three to the west wall (so they can break through), three to the east (to stall Yue Fei from coming over to help the west wall), and one each on the other two walls. ---------------------- Yue Fei soon realized what Baron was planning when the messenger had told him of the situation. Without his help the west wall would certainly fall, but if he left his position at this wall then he would definitely lose the east wall. He knew he had lost this simulation, however he wasn''t going to go down without a fight. (YF) "Tell the officers at the other two walls to send as much reinforcements as they can spare to the west wall. That should be able to solve this problem for a little while." Yue Fei said as he plunged his sword into one of Baron''s men instantly killing him. "Go now, there is no time to waste." (M) Yes, sir" the messenger hastily told another messenger the situation and both of them split up to get the message to each wall much quicker. (YF) "It''s easy to kill, Baron, but it is quite difficult to end a war." Yue Fei thought aloud. The battle dragged on long into the afternoon, and just as the sun was about to set Baron and his men finally managed to break through the west wall, go down the stairs leading up onto the walls, and opened up the gates to let his cavalry in. After this point, many of Yue Fei''s men gave up and threw down their weapons in utter defeat. As did Yue Fei. Going by Baron''s calculations if every wall had only focused on their own walls without giving support to the west wall, then the west wall would''ve fallen a few hours after noon. However, with the intervention of the reinforcements his estimation was off by a couple of hours, almost taking the battle into night when no one dared to fight. Not even Baron. According to Yue Fei''s calculations he believed that the west wall with the reinforcements should''ve held on until night fell. Unfortunately, he miscalculated how tenacious and victory thirsty Baron''s men had become after an entire day of fighting. Yue Fei realized that in every aspect of this simulation he had been completely oppressed by Baron in every single calculable way. A message popped up for both of the strategists when the bulk of Baron''s army entered into the city. It read "Congratulation Baron Magellan on your overwhelming victory in this simulation." Then that message was replaced another that read "Play again?" Both players hit the no button without hesitation and both was transported back to the hall where the others were. They took off their helmets to look at each other. (YF) "Well played Baron Magellan, you are quite a capable strategist, it''s also nice to see that you don''t shy away from battle." Yue Fei reached out his hand to shake Baron''s. (BM) "You played very admirably as well" Baron also reached out his hand to shake Yue Fei''s. The silence of the others in the room said it all. They were dumbstruck by the overwhelming show of respect Yue Fei, an elder in the community, was showing to Baron an absolute greenhorn who hadn''t even been here that long. This handshake represented that Yue Fei recognizes the ability of Baron, which none of them had received. It also represented the start of a brotherhood between Yue Fei and Baron. 11 Meeting 5 out of the top 20 The two men unlocked their hands and looked at each other with a sense of unspoken friendship, and loyalty. As if the battle that had concluded just now was the bridge for these two to become great friends. (YF) "How about you go and take a rest for now? Oh yes I should probably tell you that although our battle took a week in the game it has only been about 1 day for these guys out here. Also, many of the younger generation watch the ceremony of an elder gauging a greenhorn, and judging by the silence in the room it seems that everyone in here is very jealous of your talent. I have to go report my little test with you so I''ll come find you when i''m done." Yue Fei said to Baron in a polite way. (BM) "Yes, I also need to reflect on our simulation so I''ll go ahead and head back to the resting room first." Baron said. (YF) "Do you still remember the way?" (BM) "yea i''ll be fine, don''t worry about me." After this conversation the both of them put down their helmets and under countless envious gazes left the room to go do their own thing. --------------------- (YF) "...and that concludes my report." Yue Fei said to the elders council of the Chinese community. Bai Qi (BQ) "Humph, he''s just a newbie who needs to be put in his place." Bai Qi shouted. This man is one of the most ruthless strategists in all of Chinese history. It is estimated that when he was rampaging through China he was responsible for around a million people''s deaths, his nickname was the human butcher. He was one of the top 20 elders in the community so not many dared to respond. Li Mu "What are you getting so worked up for old Bai Qi? It''s not like you aren''t allowed to have a go at him." Li Mu said sternly in a mocking voice. This strategist is one that had a blood feud with Bai Qi and they are constantly at each others throats. Back when Bai Qi was still alive he massacred over 400,000, yes four hundred thousand, of Li Mu''s people (from the state of Zhao), and Li Mu who was in a different generation than Bai Qi (from the state of Qin) was left to pick up the pieces after Bai Qi left. Eventually the state of Qin overran the state of Zhao and the other five states to create the Qin dynasty, along with the first emperor of China Qin Shi Huang. Li Mu could forgive and forget what the Qin were doing since his very own state was doing the same thing. However, Bai Qi outright slaughtered his people and he would never forget such a barbarous act. (BQ) "Watch it Li Mu, I may not be as highly ranked as you but I''m not afraid of you" Bai Qi snickered. Wang Jian (WJ) "..." Wang Jian stayed silent. This man made huge contributions to the Qin state becoming the Qin dynasty. This man had strategical abilities which few in the Chinese community could even begin to comprehend. Lian Po (LP) "Hahahaha, oh this is quite interesting little Yue Fei. So you mean to tell me that you were completely unable to best this newcomer? That''s quite funny, hahahahaha." Lian Po also came from the state of Zhao but was from Bai Qi''s generation. Even though he was also not a fan of Bai Qi, he realized that the past was the past and he isn''t someone who kept grudges for very long. These four men, Bai Qi, Li Mu, Wang Jian, and Lian Po, were deemed the four most revered generals/strategists in the warring states period in China''s history. Very few strategists could match them, and so they took up four out of the twenty top elders seats in the Chinese community. It remained silent in the room until a beautiful lady spoke up amidst the silence. Madam Zheng (MZ) "O-hoh, so you actually lost to the green horn. I say, this new fellow is quite the interesting little rascal, I might have to go check him out myself." A sweet and melodic voice rang throughout the room. It was the voice of the naval legend Madam Zheng. Her time in the Chinese community may not be very long, but the contributions provided made her so popular that she was pushed into the position of one of the top 20 elders. Although she had been here for only a fraction of the time that Yue Fei had, she was already incomparably superior to him in the rankings. This sort of ascension shocked everyone, especially the old farts who thought their rankings among the council had been long since set in stone. (YF) "Since I have made my report, I''ll just be on my way then. I won''t bother you guys any longer." (BQ) "Alright, we have many other things to discuss amongst ourselves, some young upstart should not have taken up so much of our time. You are dismissed." (MZ) "Hold on Yue Fei, where are you going?" Madam Zheng asked politely. (YF) "I''m going to go talk to Baron about his situation here, and see if I can have another go at him." Yue Fei responded immediately. (MZ) "Oh is that so? Well, if you get the chance why don''t you invite Baron over to my place so I can have a nice little chat with him? Hmmm?" She said softly. (YF) "Yes ma''am, I will relay your well wishes to him." (MZ) "Excellent, now you may leave." As soon as she said so Yue Fei left without looking back. This little conversation she had with Yue Fei garnered a lot of attention from the other elders. Just by saying this she was essentially saying that anyone who dared to touch Baron would incur her wrath. Even the four most revered strategists in the warring states period would not dare to act against Baron unless they had no other choice, even if these four were all higher ranking than her. These four strategists were best put to use when they are leading armies against enemies on dry land, and if they fell in battle there would be hundreds to replace them. However, the naval genius and beauty that is Madam Zheng could not be replaced by just anyone, so her importance to the Chinese community was vastly superior. After Yue Fei left the council he headed to the original room where Baron had woken up in so the two could have a chat. (YF) "Hey" (BM) "Hey" (YF) "So i''ve made my report to the council and there seems to be one person who is particularly interested in meeting you. We call her Madam Zheng, and she has insisted that you two have a nice talk sometime." (BM) "Madam Zheng? Could it be that pirate empress that commanded hundreds of ships that dominated the seas around China in the 18th and 19th centuries?" (YF) "Oh so you''ve heard of her?" (BM) "I''ve actually researched quite extensively into all things warfare related, and even how to build primitive weapons out of scratch. So yea I''ve heard of the legendary Madam Zheng, she commanded hundreds of ships and thousands of people. She''s outlived two husbands, and she was pretty popular with the ladies because of her progressive if you **** someone you get executed no exceptions rule. I don''t think there is another word to describe her other than legendary. She has my utmost respect." (YF) "Funny you mention those two points, she actually runs a mostly female faction in the Chinese community, and her two husbands have a hand in helping her run this faction. She and two others are the femme fatale of the Chinese community, and most girls have chosen to be under their female leadership." (BM) "As expected, her ambition hasn''t died since her death. This has been bugging me for awhile now, how come I understand you perfectly? I''m sure the language when you were alive is very different than the language that survives today." (YF) "Good question, but I''m actually not sure because back when I was alive the closest word to this is manipulation of the mind. Therefore, you can understand everyone on this planet perfectly." (BM) "Then how come everyone here is so..........picture perfect?" (YF) "Well, I am not qualified to know this answer either, but i''ve been told that everyone who died gets a new and better body." (BM) "Not qualified? What considers as qualified then if even an elder like you isn''t? (YF) "You have to be in the top 20 elders spot to be qualified to know. I myself am at the very edge at around rank 90''s. Speaking of, you might be able to extract some info out of Madam Zheng if you do decide to have a talk with her." (BM) "That''s reasonable. I think i''ll save the rest of my questions for after I''ve met her then." (YF) "Excellent, do you want to go over our simulation and review what happened?" (BM) "Aren''t you an elder? Don''t you have a lot of responsibilities?" (YF) "No, i''m very lowly ranked as an elder so the only responsibility i''ve got is to receive the new recruits and kick them out if they aren''t up to the standard of our community." (BM) "Alright then, let''s get started." 12 Yue Feis Plan (YF) "Before we begin, I want you to know that I was holding back to see how well you could capitalize a situation if you had an advantage." Yue Fei said to hopefully reduce some of Baron''s presumed gloating. (BM) "Well I figured, you are an elder of this community. If you didn''t at least have some ability you would never have been able to become an elder in the first place. After all, in the history of China, there has been no shortage of tacticians." Baron said matter of factly. (YF) "You have to realize we may have a lot of powerhouses, but the other communities have no shortage of talents as well." (BM) "Don''t worry, i''m not one to overestimate myself." (YF) "You are too modest, but you have the ability to back up such thoughts." (BM) "What''s that supposed to mean?" (YF) "Almost everyone here is only concerned about themselves, and their future. That''s why once they realize how cruel this world is, they change their personalities to be merciless. Not everyone of course but the majority here have been shaped like that." (BM) "Then I''m assuming you haven''t been transformed into a merciless killing machine?" (YF) "No, even when I was alive I always showed compassion and loyalty." (BM) "I''m well aware of what characteristics you displayed when you were alive, i''m glad to see you haven''t succumbed like the other people." (YF) "My achievements aren''t as grand or numerous as Madam Zheng, yet you''ve researched me as well?" (BM) "Yes, as soon as I could think critically i''ve researched a lot into all matters related to warfare. My father was also a military fanatic, so as soon as I displayed interest and talent in strategy, he enrolled me into a competitive school where many bright young minds gathered to increase their military prowess. I may not have been the youngest to get into the school, but I quickly surpassed everyone there and earned the nickname "the next level strategist". After staying there for a few years learning all I could, I toured the other strategy schools around the country to challenge them." (YF) "Seems like you didn''t have much of a childhood." (BM) "....I could say the same for you, and probably about half of the people who now live here" (YF) "Tell me how died. You seem to be a little young by the way you talk." (BM) "I died when I was 20, all the preparing i''ve done for war, all the stories i''ve read, all the experiences that have been shared with me could not have prepared me for the hell that is war." (YF) "You were only 20 when you died? I''ve served for as long as you''ve lived." Yue Fei said with a face full of shock. "I''ve had many regrets in my life what about you?" (BM) "The most important thing I regret is that I died in my first actual deployment. I had so much ambition and goals, too bad i''m here now." (YF) "Don''t be like that. Change your goals and use that drive to do well in this world. There are many benefits to being well off here too." (BM) "I understand." (YF) "Did you leave behind any special people back on Earth?" (BM) ".......I.....I choose to not answer." (YF) "Alright whatever, let''s begin our review." The next few hours the two spent reviewing what they could have done better, how to react faster to situations. Although Baron was a genius in the younger generation back at Earth, he had nowhere near the amount of experience of someone like Yue Fei. Yue Fei also spent this time to teach Baron the basics of the simulation as well as showing Baron a few of his own tips and tricks that he had picked up over his time at planet four. (BM) "Why are you helping me out so much? Surely its unprecedented for an elder to spend so much time, and even revealing a few trump cards to a complete newbie like me." (YF) "Yes, there is a reason for my generosity which I hope you can pay back. As it stands now the Chinese community is splintered between multiple powerful factions vying for total control." (BM) "I know there is the 100 elders. Is there any authority that is even higher than them?" (YF) "Yes there are, there are 3 great elder positions and 1 Overlord position which has even higher authority than the 3 great elders combined. Unfortunately, we have never had an Overlord before because in order to get that position you have to call in a vote from every person in the Chinese community and achieve at least a 90% of overall votes. None so far have been able to accomplish this feat in the Chinese community." (BM) "No one? Then is there anyone in the 3 great elders seats?" (YF) "I''m not authorized to know who these fellows are, but I do know that there is one seat vacant. Rumour is its going to land in the hands of one of the four most revered generals in the warring states period. These are Lian Po, Li Mu, Bai Qi, and Wang Jian. However, there is a dark horse emerging in this competition and that is Madam Zheng. Her quick rise to prominence has garnered the support of many, although she isn''t quite at the level of authority as those four, if given enough time she will be able to surpass them." (BM) "I had no idea that the affairs of the Chinese community is like this. However, it''s not like it was totally unpredictable. After all, even back on Earth China had only recently began acting as a unified country." (YF) "I have no idea what happened after my death so i''ll have to take your word for it." (BM) "It''s actually kind of sad." (YF) "What is?" (BM) "The fact is that for most of Chinese history, we''ve only been concerned about fighting each other. If we had a unified country in the beginning, I have no doubt that the legacy we would''ve left behind would be among the romans, and greeks, and quite possibly even similar Genghis Khan, but we were too occupied with fighting each other to realize that fighting ourselves only had the benefit of making new ways to kill each other." (YF) "Are you sure? Genghis Khan is pretty well known on planet four, I don''t know if we would''ve been as successful as that guy." (BM) "I''ve researched a great deal into this, but the main thing you need to know is that we had discovered gunpowder, and the inventions we made from that were pretty advanced for its time. The other thing is we had a huge population of men that could fight, very few nations during that time could match us in size alone." (YF) "How many books did you read to gather this much information?" (BM) "Most of it was actually through the internet, but anyway what did you want me to do?" (YF) "Well, as you know i''ve been here for more than a thousand years. I''ve fought through many simulation and gathered enough contributions to become an elder. Now though, I don''t see myself advancing any further. I''ve reached as far as I can with my own abilities, so I need the help of someone else to rise even further. That person will be you." (BM) "Me? Why don''t you ally with one of the other elders?" (YF) "Remember when I told you that most people become cruel themselves after experiencing how cruel this world is? Most elders are like that, and I don''t trust any of them. I''d rather have an ally like you, one that I know won''t betray me, and more importantly you already have a basic grasp of many of the elders according to you and all that research you''ve done." (BM) "I know you are someone who greatly values loyalty, don''t get me wrong. But how come you trust me? I mean we haven''t even known each other for very long." (YF) "Don''t worry, I know a good person when I see one." Yue Fei slowly walked to Baron and held out his arm signalling for Baron to either accept it or refuse him outright. (BM) "Let''s make history, brother." Baron replied and shook Yue Fei''s hands in acceptance. (YF) "Come, this signals the start of a great brotherhood. Let''s go get absolutely drunk." Yue Fei said to Baron and immediately hooked his arm around Baron''s shoulder and proceeded to drag Baron into the bar all the while laughing it out with his newfound brother. 13 Attracting a lot of Attention The two men went to get drunk together and inadvertently attracted a lot of attention from the other people at the bar. Rumours began to circulate and within a day of their talk many in the Chinese community had heard about the unlikely alliance between Yue Fei and an unknown newcomer. Yue Fei had a bit of a reputation for never asking for help, in fact he had actively refused it when help was offered to him. Now though, he had actually initiated an alliance with a newcomer. This was indeed news to many, and many went to go check out if these rumours had any truth to it. They were shocked by the respect and camaraderie both sides showed to each other. Then even more rumours began to spread, most of which were highly exaggerated. The two paid no interest to these events and instead worked to transfer their respective knowledge and experiences with each other. Enhancing both of their understandings of warfare tremendously in only a few days. Then they had a few simulations to test out a few of Baron''s theories as he couldn''t experiment when he was back on Earth. This proved instrumental to Baron''s development and within a short period of time he had been able to confirm many of his theories. He now had even more tricks up his sleeve than when he had fought with Yue Fei the very first day he came to planet four. Many people had heard of Baron by this point and so many of the younger generation decided to have a simulation match against him. Wanting to put his newfound knowledge to the test, Baron didn''t reject any challenges that was made of him. --------------------------------- The very first challenger was a fellow by the name of Xu Da, from his constant research, Baron instantly recognized this person. Xu Da was a military general who personally helped to end the Yuan dynasty in 1368, and helped the first emperor of the Ming dynasty that was established right after the fall of the Yuan dynasty. Since Xu Da was the elder, he allowed Baron to choose the settings of the simulations. Baron chose to have a 50,000 vs 50,000 walled city siege, but this time he would be on the defensive side. Unbeknownst to both of these strategists, there were many pairs of eyes glued to their simulation. This was because with how much attention Baron has received in the past few days, many wanted to gauge this newcomer''s ability for themselves. On the one day of preparation, both parties would do what normally had to be done. This included the logistics of their respective armies, any points of interest of terrain that they could find on the map that would give them an advantage if used properly, and of course drawing multiple scenarios in their heads to see what was the best way to outsmart their enemy. Unfortunately for Xu Da, Baron had remembered an interesting point after researching Xu Da. According to some accounts, Xu Da was allergic to geese, and rumour has it was even deathly scared of these birds. Baron had many plans that he had in his arsenal against Xu Da, but after remembering the trivia, he really wanted to see if he could actually win the simulation using a goose. However, he had to bide his time. On the first day of battle, there weren''t that much interesting developments, and so only a battle with brute numbers ensued. At the end of the first day, even though there wasn''t that much fierce clashing from both sides, both sides had lost about 3,000 soldiers each. So, Baron''s army of 47,000 vs. Xu Da''s army of 47,000is what the two armies are at by the beginning of the second day. The second day of battle proceeded much like the first, with Xu Da only applying a war of attrition, but this time Baron actually toured the four walls giving his men morale and occasionally fighting alongside them. At the end of the day when the attacking army was retreating for the day, Baron decided to send five 1 thousand cavalry units to mess up the infantry''s retreat. Xu Da reacted quite slowly to this provocation by Baron, but by the time he had come up with a solution the cavalry had already stepped foot back into the walled city. These two tactics employed by Baron today, raising morale by touring the four walls, and using well rested cavalry to hunt down the tired enemies'' infantry proved quite successful. At the end of the day the results were clear in showing Baron''s superiority in the battle today. Baron had 45,000 troops left while Xu Da had 44,000. Not a big difference, but any good news he had Baron would share with his men so that they could have higher morale. In the cover of darkness Baron ordered 10,000 cavalry to split up and begin working on something outside of the city that Baron had planned. The third day of battle was completely different however, the two sides only engaged in a battle of arrows. Both sides'' archers were behind a line of shield troops so there wasn''t as many casualties as there had been the previous two days of fighting. The tally at the end of the day revealed that Baron''s army had about 43,000 troops left while Xu Da had about 42,000. However, during the night of the third day, Xu Da had sent in cavalry to deploy the exact same tactic that Baron had introduced when he used it against Yue Fei. Unbeknownst to Baron, while he and Yue Fei were busy carrying out experiments, the other younger generation and even some of the older generations had picked up the firecracker strategy to sap the enemy''s morale and strength. This method to keep the enemy soldiers awake all night and in a state where their adrenaline kept pumping was not the first of its kind, but this method was the first to utilize such a small number of men while having an even greater effect than anything they had come up with before. Baron ordered the night patrol on the walls to triple in comparison to the normal amount, and had the rest of the men move closer to the centre of the city so they could get some peaceful sleep. The night passed just like that. On the dawn of the fourth day Xu Da surprised Baron by sending in troops an hour early. As a result Baron''s men didn''t even get their breakfast in before they had to rush to the walls to defend them once again. Baron realized that the morale of his troops were slowly withering so he had to come up with something to save the situation. In the end he had the infantry and archers not yet on the wall to have their breakfast first, then switch out with the people who were fighting with an empty stomach. Baron knew this task could go very wrong if handled improperly so he carried out the plan himself and went to each of the walls to guide the process. After a mishap on the final wall, Baron had to fight personally to inspire his troops and regain the upper hand on that wall. Just like that the fourth day of battle ended, but Xu Da''s men once again set out to use the firecracker strategy to confuse their enemy again. However, Baron had long been prepared for this and immediately informed the cavalry he had sent out on the night of the second day. Just before the sun set for the day, Baron had some of the enemies'' armour deliveredto his cavalry already outside the walls, he ordered some of them to put on this armour and to approach the people who were lighting up the firecrackers slowly and kill them with the least amount of noise possible. Wearing the armour acts as a disguise so that the enemy would not be suspicious of these men until it was too late. This plan proved really successful and Baron''s men managed to kill over 450 out of the 500 cavalry sent out to light up the fireworks, they quickly retreated once the sun was about to come up. Baron''s 40,000 vs. Xu Da''s 40,000 was what both sides had left on the dawn of the fifth day of battle. Just before the two armies clashed for the day Baron ordered one of his cavalry to ride straight into the enemy camp dressed as one of Xu Da''s men to obtain intelligence deemed of the utmost importance to Baron. Xu Da (XD) "Who are you and what do you want?" Xu Da said as he looked at what he assumed to be a soldier who had learned of something of great importance to the war. Baron''s spy (BS) "I have been given a message by one of Baron''s men to send to you. It''s in this bag here." (XD) "Oh what is it?" Xu Da was visibly suspicious. (BS) "Here it is." the spy reached into the bag and pulled out a goose then proceeded to throw the live goose at Xu Da. 14 I think we Should have a Little Cha The room was completely silent. All the guards in the room were not sure what to do in such an absurd situation, but Xu Da''s face immediately turned into fright as soon as he saw the goose. (XD) "Guards kill that goose immediately, and capture that person for interrogation." he yelled out half in anger and half in fright. Baron''s spy (BS) "Looks like you guys are busy I''ll just take my leave." he said and immediately bolted out of the room. A few of Xu Da''s men gave chase, but as soon as Baron''s spy got on the horse and left no one could catch up to him. How could they? This spy''s horse was the fastest in Baron''s army, a group of hastily assembled horses would be no match for its speed. As soon as he was sure he was safe the spy grabbed a messenger pigeon in a cage from his horse, tucked a little message onto its legs and let it fly off towards Baron. As soon as Baron received the message he went to go plan up strategies again but right after he sat down to open the message, someone interrupted him. (M) "Sir, the enemy has launched their offensive for today. It seems they are finally serious now, they have brought out 14 siege towers. Two each on the north and south walls, and 5 each on the east and west walls." (BM) "Are they perhaps trying to bet everything on today?" Baron asked quite quite concerned. "Have there been any reports of Xu Da personally fighting?" (M) "No, sir" (BM) "What are they planning? I can''t make heads nor tails of what they plan to achieve with a formation like this." Baron then proceeded to lead the fight on the west walls and have 1 of his officers on the north and south walls to transfer over to lead the men on the east walls. This way all of the walls reached a sort of equilibrium where neither side could push the other back. (M) "Sir I have a report. The east walls have reported that three more siege towers have appeared and will latch onto the east walls in a matter of minutes." (BM) "So that''s what Xu Da had planned." Baron realized that when Xu Da had set up which wall the siege towers would go to, he knew that Baron would choose to lead the men in either the west or east walls, which had the highest chances of falling if he hadn''t intervened. So all Xu Da had to do to gain the upper hand was to send more siege towers to the side that Baron didn''t go to to defend. A very basic strategy but effective nonetheless since Baron couldn''t go to both walls at the same time. If Baron chose to stick to the west wall, then the east wall would undoubtedly fall. However, if he lead the defence in the east wall then the west wall would also fall sooner or later, not to mention the time he had to spend to get to the other side of the city where the east wall was. Such difficult decisions had to be thought out carefully but Baron did not have this luxury at this moment. (BM) "Going by my calculations they would not have had enough time to soak all of them in water, at least not properly. So give the message to the other walls'' officers to burn down the battle sieges. That should more or less solve a few of our problems. As for the others throw a couple of barrels of oil onto the siege towers and light that up." (M) "Yes sir" The messenger immediately left to inform the others. Baron had to attempt to finish off the matters of this west wall quickly before he could do anythingfor the east wall. As soon as he instructed the burning of the siege towers, of the original five that had been at the wall only two remained. Deeming this wall no longer under a threat of falling to the enemy, Baron quickly had the other officers to burn down the rest and to assist the north and south walls should they need assistance in burning down their siege towers. Baron figured out that in fact none of the siege towers were soaked in water so they could still burn them down, it just required a bit of tie. Although fire arrows could eventually burn down these towers it would take far too long and so he resorted to throwing anything extremely flammable he had onto the towers and lighting those up. It worked miraculously but the battle today was a fierce one and although they managed to push back Xu Da''s forces, both sides had taken tremendous amounts of casualties. At the end of the day, Xu Da''s men had gained the upper hand and had 36,000 troops remaining while Baron had only 34,000. In terms of morale though, Baron''s men fared better since their enemies had lost a vital part of their army, their siege towers, which were destroyed fairly easily, this improved their morale greatly. Xu Da did not send out any of the people to set out firecrackers tonight for fear of losing any more men and morale. Finally, Baron could look at the messenger bird''s message that his spy had sent to him hours earlier, he could read it now since there was no fight going on. The message proved Baron''s guess, Xu Da was indeed deathly afraid of geese. Baron could see now how he could win this war with the leastamount of effort possible. He then sent a message to the cavalry to immediately scout the area around the city to find where the enemy camp was. After they found the camp they were to return to their previous location to await further instructions. With a force of close to ten thousand cavalry, they were able to quickly gather the info and report back without much hassle. When they returned to their base of operations outside of the city they were surprised to see Baron there. After all no one expected the master strategist to leave the city that he was supposed to defend just like that. Officer Sol quickly greeted his superior. Officer Sol (OS) "Sir, what is the meaning of this? Aren''t you supposed to stay within the city and give instructions to us through messengers so that you can lead the others inside the city? Why are you here?" (BM) "Don''t worry the officers and the lieutenant have already received the battle plan for tomorrow, they should be able to last until we deal the decisive blow to Xu Da''s army in a few hours. Get as much rest as you can we will set off in an hour or two. (OS) "Yes, sir. Go on you heard the boss go get some rest." Sol relayed to his men. Within an hour Xu Da''s men had already had their breakfast and left their camp to once again lay siege to the city for the sixth day in a row. This was when Baron chose to attack the enemy camp. With the full force of 10,000 cavalry the 5,000 troops stationed there all had their guard down. Baron and his men made quick work of the 5,000 infantry and killed most of them while only taking a few hundred casualties on his side. This boosted their morale immensely and they set out again to the walled city. Before they left, Baron ordered two thousand out of his remaining troops to change into the enemy''s armour. Just before they reached the city they split up into two groups. One group that consisted of Baron and the two thousand cavalry that were dressed as the enemy. This group led by Baron would directly go to engage Xu Da and the temporary command centre that they had set up, this camp was located outside of the north wall. The second group was led by Officer Sol and the remaining troops were under his command. They were told to go to the south wall, directly opposite of Xu Da''s command centre, and try to kill as many men as they could. Both parties would engage the enemy at roughly the same time so that even if Xu Da caught wind of what Officer Sol was doing, he would be too occupied with Baron to be able to do anything about it. (BM) "Alright, you" He said pointing to one of his soldiers. "You will bring me to Xu Da''s command tent and say that you caught me lurking around the camp. Everyone else you will standby here, unless there is a fight that breaks out between me and enemy general Xu Da will you come to fight. If that happens you will have to try to find me in the confusion and get me out." "Yes sir" everyone shouted. Baron and his soldier dressed as the enemy got off their horses and proceeded to walk straight into the heart of the enemy without showing any fear. Once they were granted access to the command tent they went in to have an audience with Xu Da. Baron was the first to speak when the two opposing generals made eye contact. (BM) "I think we should have a little chat, Xu Da." Baron said confidently. 15 Yet Another Challenger (XD) "Talk? We''re at war what could we possibly have to talk to each other about?" Xu Da was puzzled by what Baron was trying to accomplish by coming here. (BM) "Well, I thought we could have a nice peaceful talk about how we should end this simulation peacefully." (XD) "What?" He was beyond confused now. (BM) "Remember that person who assaulted you with a goose?" (XD) "Did you send him as a spy?" (BM) "Yes i did, you should have realized by now that I plan to use the goose to force you to stop this simulation between the two of us." (XD) "I applaud you for your bravery, if nothing else. however, just because you know my weakness doesn''t mean that I will bow down to your will." (BM) "I thought you were a strategist, yet you fail to realize what your enemy plans on doing. You disappoint me quite a bit." (XD) "Then tell me what you are planning to do. " (BM) "Now you''re asking your enemy to reveal their plan? Haha alright. Let me give you a little hint. I haven''t just spent my first few days on planet four laughing and drinking it up with Yue Fei. I have also amassed all the info available to the public in the Chinese community. Turns out from what I have gathered, you enjoy a pretty nice life here. You aren''t as powerful as the 100 elders, but you are somewhat close." (XD) "Yeah,so what''s your point?" (BM) "My point is this world cruel,you already know that much. It would be a shame if word got out that you were afraid of geese. Everyone below you would exploit that weakness of yours like no tomorrow." (XD) "Are you threatening me boy?" (BM) "Oh not at all,in fact I have something even better planned." (XD) "And that would be... " (BM) "How about we have our chat in private?" (XD) "Very well." He said as he ordered his guards out of the command tent. "So what is your proposal?" (BM) "You and I put on a grand show for the people who are watching our battle, but ultimately you will lose to me and follow under me." (XD) "Shameful.Too shameful. Do you realize that I would be throwing away all of my face if we did that? " (BM) "Would you rather I reveal your little secret to everyone?" (XD) "..." Xu Da had to think long and hard on this decision. On the one hand he would be losing everything he had worked so hard for these past hundreds of years, and he would lose the freedom which he had enjoyed ever since coming here. On the other hand, if he didn''t take Baron''s offer then he would be ridiculed out of the Chinese community for having such an easy and exploitable weakness, then he would have to fend for himself in the streets, which he would not be able to survive very long even if he had some ability. In the end he chose to swallow his pride and follow Baron. "You win, I chose to be under you." (BM) "A very wise choice I assure you." Baron was overjoyed by type fact that he had another powerful ally by his side. "One more thing Xu Da,I hope that you will trust me as much as I will trust you in the future.I don''t plan on exposing your little secret so don''t make me go that far. Also, do not announce that you have joined me just yet.I want to surprise everyone." (XD) "Alright,whatever you say. So how do we go about the rest of this simulation?" (BM) "You and I will start a general vs. general fight that will last until the sun goes down. Then I will make my escape with my men and you are not to give chase." (XD) "What about my men already on the walls?" (BM) "Just leave them to fight it out with my men. All that matters is you and I put on a good show to give to our audience." (XD) "Very well." Within an instant both of them unsheathed their weapons and let loose on each other. The battle that they fought was vicious and many of Xu Da''s men came to aid him but were told to stand guard and watch. With such a big commotion happening, Baron''s men that were dressed as the enemy naturally heard, and rushed to the enemy camp just as Baron had ordered them to do moments earlier. The enemy camp became an instant mess as soon as Baron''s disguised men charged into the camp and started letting loose on their enemies. Screams of pain, confusion, and curses rang endlessly in the turmoil that ensued. Not wanting their general to be overwhelmed by these newcomers, Xu Da''s men had turned around to fend off these 2,000 cavalry. At the end of the day, Baron had managed to deal a sizeable blow to Xu Da''s troops. Once the sun was about to set, Baron ordered a full scale retreat back into the walled city. Baron''s troops'' morale was higher than the sky at this point. Within a day Baron had lost 6,000 troops, and his surviving army totalled 28,000. Whereas for Xu Da, he had lost 16,000 men and his surviving army totalled 20,000 men. Most of Xu Da''s casualties laid in two tactics devised by Baron. One was completely wiping out Xu Da''s camp when Xu Da had left with the majority of his army to lay siege to the city. The other one was the 7 to 8 thousand cavalry troops sent to kill as many soldiers as they could outside of the south wall. After that day the rest of the battles were uneventful and a battle of attrition occurred. With Baron''s obvious superiority in number of soldiers compared to Xu Da he eventually won after two more weeks of their forces just duking it out without any strategy. After about three weeks of fighting, the game had decided a winner. The winner of the battle simulation was Baron Magellan. ------------------------ Back in the training room where Baron and Xu Da had returned to after the results were announced. Many people were stunned to see that Xu Da had not used any tactics to pressure Baron after the day where he lost 16,000 of his men. (XD) "Remember what you told me." (BM) "No need to worry my friend. Just do as I say and we will be able to become great friends." Baron whispered to Xu Da. After which Xu Da just up and left without another word. Everyone was shocked to see that not only had Baron bested Yue Fei, but he had also somehow managed to beat Xu Da. While Xu Da didn''t have the greatest amount of influence within the Chinese community he could also be considered one of the top brass of the regular members. Just who is this young fellow who had managed to beat these two semi well known figures? Soon after his simulation against Xu Da, Baron received another challenge. This time the challenge came from a person by the name of Ban Chao. Naturally, Baron had researched this elder of his as well. Ban Chao had fought numerous times against the xiongnu (ancestors of the Mongolians, maybe), but he wasn''t that renowned for his aggressive plays. Rather he was more well known for his administration and his efforts to protect his land from enemies more than anything. Baron accepted it quickly, and being the junior in this situation, he had control of what the setting of the simulation was again. Since Baron wasn''t too afraid of the skills of Ban Chao, he just set the simulation on random mode. Therefore the game would randomly choose what mode, troops size, and other things for him. The game chose to have the two competitors play the mode Battle of Thermopylae. Where 300 Spartan soldiers and about 6,700 others were to fight a vastly superior army of over 100,000+ Persians. This battle is considered one of the most famous last stands in history. This battle mode only included the land portion, so the naval battle that occurred simultaneously was not to be played out unless both sides had at least two or more strategists with them. The game chose Baron to be on the defending Spartan side where he only had about 7,000 fairly well seasoned troops. While the leading of an army over 100,000 would go to Ban Chao. This mode heavily leaned towards the favour of the attacking side. Most of the times, this mode would be used by strategists to see how long they could last while using strategies with only 7,000 troops if the enemy did nothing but to rush over. Therefore this mode was more of a training simulation rather than a serious battle. So, the preparation time for this simulation was a lot longer than most other modes at 2 weeks. This time was mostly for the defending side to scout out as much of the terrain as possible and develop multiple strategies to fight their enemies with. Baron however, knew exactly what he needed to do if he was to win such a disadvantaged simulation, and with the two week preparation time he had no worries in his mind that he would ever lose. 16 The Importance of Preparation There were two main things that Baron could consider an advantage for him.One was that Ban Chao was unlikely to use any strategies against him since all he had to do was to overrun Baron with numbers alone. The second advantage was that he had two weeks of preparation time,this was more than enoughtime for him to get everything he had in mind set up. The truth was,Baron had neglected a vital resource in his last battle against Xu Da, and the same could be said for his first simulation against Yue Fei. They hadn''t used the manpower that came in the form of civilians. Although the simulations made up these civilians, they weren''t for war, rather they were mainly used as a source to manufacture weapons if needed. After all the game couldn''t give the strategists unlimited weapons, that would just spoil the fun of war. Therefore they provided civilians to help with making weapons, burying corpses, or digging trenches. Baron was currently going to one of the few city states that occupied the land that he was going to defend.The people that lived there was already aware of the invasion by Ban Chao''s army, they were also aware that should Baron''s army fall to this aggressor, then these people would likely be executed. So they were very keen to help Baron in any way that they can. Baron was glad to hear this and as soon as he finished drawing up a blueprint for the weapon he wanted to be mass produced, he immediately gave one to the leader of these people and ordered him to build as many of these weapons as possible. Then he had many of his officers do the same to the other cities that surrounded them. Within three days, all of his soldiers were helping to build these weapons in the cities. This showed just how important this weapon was in the eyes of Baron to have his troops help to build it instead of having them do combat drills and such. With how smooth things were going for the mass production of this weapon Baron spent the rest of the preparation time coming up with strategies. He knew just how dire the circumstances were for him at this moment,but he did not have any doubts on his victory. However, as luck would have it by the time the two week preparation time had ended, he didn''t have as much of the secret weapon as he had hoped. There were some complications in the manufacturing of the contraption itself. He had planned on using metal tips on his bolts,however the only place where he could get it was in the shields and spears of his army. That was naturally not the way to go since he needed everything in his army to be in perfect working condition. He could only resort to using wood for every component of his secret weapon. He only had three options available to him. He could fight the attacking army tomorrow without the use of this weapon. He could bring what he had managed to produce. Or he could try to stall the enemy. Baron remembered that during the actual battle of Thermopylae the spartans held the absolute in advantage in the terrain. The place they chose to fight the invaders was a narrow passageway that would limit how much enemies they had to fight. In history they managed to completely decimated the first wave of 10,000 enemies with less than 10 casualties on the first day. This showed how much of an advantage the spartans had in terms of terrain, battle tactics,and formations. Baron reckoned he could achieve the same result as the actual battle of Thermopylae during the first few days. However if he could not finish up these preparations quick enough then his men would eventually be fatigued enough to not be able to retaliate at all. He realized that the enemy would not give him time, no matter how nicely he asked so he couldn''t go down that route. In the end he decided to keep the weapon a secret and went off to war without it. At the beginning of the first day of battle, Baron led the bulk of his army army to the main passageway where most of the fighting was going to be. He sent 2,000 out of his 7,000 soldiers to go defend other areas where Ban Chao might try to push through. Baron could not have asked for a better location to fight off the enemy. Due to there being a few other passageways that the enemy troops can sneak through, Baron had to prepare for them as well. Just before the enemy arrived and started officially started to clash, Baron was giving a speech to rile up the men. The strategy for the defending side, Baron''s troops, was simple. The passageway could only support a few men and therefore since these men were spartan and had spartan equipment the were to use the phalanx formation to defend the passageway. their spartan equipment consisted of large round metal shields, and long spears, with an extra sword at their side if the shield broke. The phalanx formation was where a group of men would get into a square formation, hold their massive round shields to all sides of them in order to defend against swords and arrows, and to stick their long spears out through the gaps in the circular shields to kill enemies. The passageway was only wide only to deploy two standard phalanx formations and therefore these men had to be rotated out to rest while others went in to plug the gap. ---------------------- Ban Chao wasn''t very pleased with the selection that Baron had made. He thought that the reason Baron chose to use the random mode was an indirect way of saying that he didn''t think much of Ban Chao. He wasn''t very pleased with the result of the of the random settings either. Personally he preferred to be on the defending side, even in this super attack favoured mode. After all within the regular Chinese community very few could say they were as adept as him in defence. During the two weeks of preparation, he had his massive 100,000 man army march around the battlefield to see just how many passages that he could use to slide soldiers into Baron''s flank. The answer was not very many. The battlefield consisted of many hilly, mountainous, and filled with trees. On their very obvious scouting mission, some of his scouts reported that many of the trees had actually been cut down, this gave Ban Chao a bad feeling. As of now, many within the community still saw Baron as a little chump who lucked out a couple of times, but not Ban Chao. He had fought with Yue Fei, and Xu Da multiple times during his stay here. Although he won numerous times when he was on the defending side, he was absolutely routed by these two in actual open field battles. Due to these reasons he knew just how impressive this young upstart must be to be able to achieve any victory when competing against these two, let alone an overwhelming defeat as Baron had managed to achieve. So Ban Chao did not dare to underestimate this enemy of his, even if he did have the upper hand at the moment. He devised a simple strategy so that his men would be able to carry them out without thinking too much. He spent the majority of the preparation time drilling techniques and discipline into his army and quickly the two weeks passed. Now was the time for him to show off what he had against Baron. When he and his troops finally managed to get to the narrow passageway that was to be the site of the fiercest battle, he saw that Baron and his men were already standing there waiting for him. Ban Chao quickly organized his army and had his men shoot out volley after volley of tens of thousands of arrows. It seemed as if the day turned into the night as the countless arrows that breached the sky looked to be endless. However, Baron already had his men prepare for this by raising all of their heavy circular shields into the sky. They took minimal casualties. Ban Chao was a little disheartened when he saw that he had basically wasted tens of thousands of arrows to virtually no effect. He thought that since Baron was new to this simulation it wouldn''t be possible for him to have realized the perfect way to counter in the situation he was in, yet he did. Ban Chao had used this vey trick to decimate multiple newbies back when they just came to planet four. It worked perfectly almost every time except this time with Baron. He could start to see just why Yue Fei, and Xu Da weren''t able to achieve victory over Baron. This was only the beginning though, he wasn''t completely convinced of Baron''s prowess on the battlefield. With that he ordered all of his men to rush the enemy. Now, he knew that since the passageway acted as a bottleneck on his forces, his army would be absolutely decimated if the enemy played their hands right. But if they didn''t, his men could easily obtain the win while only having truly fought for one day. This tactic was only meant to test out how well Baron could command his given troops. Ban Chao himself had men to spare so he didn''t really care if he lost a few thousand men on the first day. By the end of the day though, he had a completely new image of Baron. Baron managed to not only fight it out through the first day of battle, but he had only taken 15 casualties. He would''ve suffered even less, but he messed up on one of the tactical retreats that day which was perfectly patched up within minutes. Ban Chao on the other hand had taken grievous losses, 15,000 in fact. For every spartan soldier they killed today they had lost over a thousand of their own men. Ban Chao knew that he could no longer underestimate Baron any longer, and he all of a sudden ordered his men to continue their attack long into the night, and then into the daylight of the next day in an attempt to tire his opponents. 17 Preparations are Complete The sounds of battle rang through the night, and by the morning the attacking Persian army led by Ban Chao was nowhere close to pushing through the narrow passage. However, Ban Chao didn''t think this was of any issue. His army still vastly outnumbered Baron''s and he had another trick up his sleeve. One advantage that the attackers would get is that everytime a simulation of this mode was played, the attacking side got a random number of troops ranging between 100,000 to 500,000. This time he had actually managed to draw an army of 400,000. He had only brought about 150,000 of these soldiers to this small pass, while the other soldiers were out trying to find another passage so that their allies could sneak behind Baron and deal a fatal blow to them. Most of his army consisted of infantry, therefore even with the two-week preparation, his army still had not found any suitable flanking opportunities. Even if they did find one they would have to send a messenger back to consult Ban Chao for further instructions. Of course, Baron was not such a simple-minded fool to allow Ban Chao to do this freely. Before the battle began, Baron had strategically placed 2,000 soldiers along the many small passages that he had found to conduct guerrilla warfare. These soldiers were to rotate shifts, one group would wait for others to come while the others had to scout the area more to see if they missed any possible locations the enemy could exploit. Baron didn''t make any big moves, and neither did Ban Chao. With the two strategists unwilling to make any moves, a week had passed after the initial day of battle. On the eighth night of the battle Baron''s soldiers showed visible signs of fatigue. Although they had managed to hold out until now, their mistakes and death toll grew with each passing day. Baron began to get a little uncertain. The past few days'' mistakes couldn''t be considered very big, but it was only a matter of time until they did manage to screw up gravely. The tally for each army was 4,000 in the passage for Baron, and 65,000 for Ban Chao. This meant that excluding the soldiers that were off somewhere else, Baron had lost close to 1,000 of his men while Ban Chao lost about 85,000. This had been a great upset on Ban Chao''s expectations. He only sent the bulk of his army to do other tasks was for two reasons. One was that he wanted to prove to Baron how capable he was, and the second was as a precaution to if Baron could actually hold up against such a dire situation. No matter how you spun it Baron had completely exceeded Ban Chao''s expectations a million times over. Now he had an iron will to completely demolish Baron. That was when he sent out the word, all troops advance and surround the enemy. He had sent out the order at night so some soldiers were still sleeping, but they hurriedly got dressed and set out at once to encircle Baron''s army. Many of the men actually tried to scale up the steep incline around the passageway that Baron was defending. However, none of it came to any fruition as they didn''t make much progress, even the few that did manage to get past the natural fortress that was the terrain, they were easily dealt with by the independent units sent by Baron. Baron was in the middle of ordering troops around when a messenger informed him that the preparations for the repeating crossbows were finally complete, and that a shipment was already delivered to the 2,000 men hiding around the other passageways. (BM) "That''s wonderful news, with the enemy assault being this fierce this news is a godsend. Have the remaining repeating crossbows be distributed to groups C, D, and E." Baron ordered with relief in his voice. (M) "As you command, general." Baron had groups A and B remain with their shields and spears so they could still defend the passageway, everyone else would equip the repeating crossbow and hunt down the enemies. This new equipment allowed Baron''s army would be able to slay many more soldiers with a fraction of the energy as they could manage with shields and spears. With Baron''s brilliant tactics and use of every strategic point that was available to him, they not only managed to push the enemy back but also unleashed massive casualties to them. The obvious advantage of the repeating crossbow was that it was quick, it is the ancient world equivalent of a machine gun. Another advantage of this was that it was super easy to kill, all you had to do was aim and shoot. Even with the darkness of the night enveloping them, with so many enemies to shoot at they hardly needed to aim. By the morning the results of the battle was quite obvious. Due to the superior weapon that is the repeating crossbow and Baron''s excellent tactics they had taken less than 100 casualties while theBan Chao had lost 30,000. Both parties retreated back to their own camps leaving only a handful of men to keep watch of their enemies. The morale between the two camps is like heaven and earth. Ban Chao was horrified at how effective Baron was at causing such devastating amounts of casualties. He only now knew that he shouldn''t have given Baron this much time to prepare such a horrifying advantage. He was quite familiar with the repeating crossbow, after all he had commanded a few such troops back when he was alive, and a couple more times when he played a few simulation matches on planet 4. However, he could not produce them like how Baron had managed to do. After all, he didn''t pay much attention to the weapon as much as he payed attention to the soldiers wielding such devastating weapons. He thought for a moment before ordering the messenger. (BC) "Messenger, give a message to the enemy camp requesting a temporary truce and a meeting between me and Baron. Be quick about it" (M) "Yes, sir" The messenger said respectfully and hurriedly rushed towards the narrow passageway. Within the hour Ban Chao had arranged the meeting with Baron and the two went to an empty tent to discuss things. (BM) "What''s with this temporary truce?" (BC) "You already know the answer to that question." Ban Chao said with a scowl on his face. (BM) "Ah, the repeating crossbows?" (BC) "Of course it''s about the repeating crossbows!" Ban Chao said with disdain. "How did you make them?" (BM) ".....I had the people living around here make them for me?" (BC) "Don''t play dumb with kid. Do you know how rare it is for any strategist to have any idea as to how to make any weapons?" (BM) "What? The repeating crossbow isn''t too hard to produce if you know how the inner mechanics work. Does no one here know how to recreate such a great weapon?" (BC) "Oh of course we do, but that is a privilege only the top 20 elders, 3 great elders, and the venerable overlord has access to." (BM) "Oh so it''s like that, Yue Fei hadn''t told me about that part yet." (BC) "There are countless blueprints to build each and every weapon the world has ever known. Yet the repeating crossbow can be considered to be one of the top 100 most coveted by the Chinese community." (BM) "Wait, why don''t we just let everyone see and memorize these blueprints? Would we not be able to perform better in the Death Match Tournament this way?" (BC) "You are still such a naive little child for thinking like this. Here, on planet 4, you have to earn the right to be granted such powerful weapons. Plus the the top 20 elders and everyone above them declares it to be this way." (BM) "Every one of them?" (BC) "Most of them, I believe the only one to reject this policy is the newcomer Madam Zheng, the naval genius." (BM) "Oh does she now....." Baron said as he trailed off in his thoughts. (BC) "How many weapons do you know the schematics of?" (BM) "Let''s just say quite a few." (BC) "I''ve been here for so long, but i''ve only managed to get 6 such blueprints, yet you come to planet four already having at least as much blueprints as me? This is just not fair." (BM) "Well...." Baron started before he paused to think. "How about we form an alliance?" (BC) "Alliance? What are your conditions, because it seems to me that you have more say in this matter than I do." (BM) "The condition is that you follow under me, give me your absolute loyalty, and you never question my motives. If you do this well, i''ll give you some blueprints." (BC) "Follow under you?" Ban Chao had quite a reputation in the Chinese Community, how could he follow under such a newcomer like Baron? On the other hand, the reward of blueprints was quite enticing. It wouldn''t be too exaggerated to say that you could dominate almost all of the simulations if you had a lot of blueprints and sufficient skill to lead men. (BM) "Well, how about it?" (BC) "I accept." Ban Chao said a little regretfully. He was throwing away all of his face once he made his decision. 18 No More Competition (BM) "I''m glad you are willing to be under me." Baron said with satisfaction. (BC) "As long as you give me a few of those blueprints I''m willing to do anything" Ban Chao said half regrettingly. (BM) "Don''t worry, as long as you do whatever I tell you to do and don''t betray me then we''ll have a great friendship." (BC) "Good, so how should we resolve this simulation then?" (BM) "To be honest, I really need to keep my head low right now. If I keep beating everyone that challenges me, then I''ll attract way too much unwanted attention." (BC) "That makes sense, but wouldn''t that mean you are handing over the victory to me?" (BM) "You aren''t thinking over the long term. What''s a loss to me if I got a long lasting alliance out of it?" (BC) "Then how do you plan to lose to me?" (BM) "That''s easy, you just have the rest of your men launch a night assault against the steep impasse to the west of here and I won''t notify them of anything. After you break through I''ll just surrender. Sound good to you?" (BC) "As you say... Boss." (BM) "Oh, don''t be like that. Just call me Baron, you are still my senior and all that." (BC) "Alright then. I''ll take my leave." After the two finished their quick chat, the two armies did not fight for the rest of the day. Instead, Baron ordered his troops to take a well deserved rest until nightfall. On the other hand, Ban Chao told the remaining 30,000 or so soldiers on this battlefield to standby. He left to go command the other army that still had over 200,000 soldiers in peak condition. As the night fell, Ban Chao readied his army and set forth to forcefully push through the location of where Baron had stationed 2000 men with the repeating crossbows. First, Ban Chao had 100,000 soldiers shoot 10 arrows each into the forest where Baron''s men were hiding. As the defending army was not ready for such an assault, and the fact that it was very dark, they lost close to a quarter of their men before everyone held their shields up to defend. Even so,this singular attack demoralized them, killed hundreds, and wounded several hundred others. Without even letting the defenders regroup, Ban Chao''s men rushed into the numerous small passageways. Baron''s men kept shooting their repeating crossbows, but they had nowhere near the amount of bolts capable to wound this many men, let alone finish them off. Baron''s men had no chance, especially without someone that could lead them as efficiently as Baron could. Within a matter of hours Ban Chao had successfully broken through and made his way to Baron''s flank. Before flanking Baron, Ban Chao had actually decided to have his men quietly encircle their enemies. Once complete, they had half of the army stay in hiding while holding up banners of the Persian empire to give the impression that they had even more numbers than they really did. The other half would immediately jump into the enemy camp and cause mass confusion. It worked. Within a few moments the 4,000 or so remaining soldiers that was left of Baron''s army was encircled by an army over 100,000 plus an additional 100,000 waiting behind them. With the advantage in the high ground lost, the comical drop in morale, the lack of any leadership from their strategist all but absent the soldiers found themselves unable to resist at all. The attacking army made quick work of such easy targets and soon enough, Baron chose to surrender. Back at the gaming room many were gossiping loudly about the results of the match that had just concluded between Baron and Ban Chao. "See I told you Baron was just lucky aginst Yue Fei and Xu Da. No way this newcomer can best them in a battle of tactics." "I can''t believe Baron let such an opportunity to pass by, by letting Ban Chao sneak behind him. Maybe he isn''t some genius like the goddess Madam Zheng, I guess I overestimated this kids'' abilities way too much." "He''s a fool for letting old Ban Chao get the better of him like that, Baron barely did anything to counterattack when his army did something." "He''s got the secret blueprint to the repeating crossbow and he doesn''t utilize it, shame what a shame. The blueprint to the repeating crossbow is absolutely wasted on a trash like him, he should just give it to me. Hahahahahaha." Baron heard these sort of insults all around him, but he didn''t mind. He could put up with all of this because he had just gained another trustworthy ally. Including Ban Chao, Baron had just acquired three relatively well known, well respected, and decently powerful comrades. He had to be careful though, he couldn''t just straight up announce his new alliance. He had to become well respected enough first before announcing such a big piece of news. Ban Chao walked up to Baron so that they could shake hands, as is customary after a simulation. They shook and Ban Chao left do do other matters, while Baron continued to be challenged by others. However, everyone after Ban Chao wasn''t very well versed in the art of warfare and constantly made mistakes. Baron let all of these guys choose the mode since he didn''t really care. During one simulation, Baron had personally taken to the field to slay all o his enemies'' capable officers aside from the general strategist himself. Without anyone capable below him to carry out orders, their entire army fell into disarray and Baron swiftly mopped up such an easy picking. Needless to say, Baron''s enemy was completely humiliated once the simulation ended and left in a hurry without even shaking Baron''s hand with a face full of anguish. This battle lessened the amount of people that wanted to challenge Baron, but not by lot. Soon Baron was in yet another simulation. During another simulation, Baron showed his superiority in deception by sneaking into the enemy camp as a messenger. Now, he had already left instructions for what his officers and lieutenant should do after each phase in Baron''s mastermind plan. Throughout the entire simulation, Baron had masterfully manipulated his opponent and fed him all the wrong information. At the end of it, when his opponent finally figured out that his main messenger turned out to be the enemy general, he did not have enough troops to even capture Baron. Baron''s lieutenant and a few officers then led the charge to destroy the enemy camp thereby concluding the simulation. Baron had to endure countless simulations after that, since he wanted to lay relatively low he won the majority of these but sabotaged himself so that he wouldn''t win every time. He wouldn''t have managed to win anyway since there were quite a few people who sat back and observed Baron patiently. They would have prepared sufficient counter strategies to Baron''s many tactics. For these opponents, Baron had decided to surprise them by using completely unconventional warfare, even more than what he had used before. These didn''t work all the time, but it didn''t matter as Baron only wanted to upset these people who think that he was such a predictable person to beat on the battlefield. Gradually the amount of strategists that wanted to have a battle of wits with him lowered and lowered. When no one wanted to fight him any more, he felt relieved, Yue Fei told Baron that anyone who arrived here and showed talent would get a fast track to becoming one of the elites in the Chinese Community. Baron didn''t want this however, so he ended up having his win lose ratio slightly above average of the normal Chinese community member. After this ratio became apparent to everyone, no one cared about him anymore. This worked to his advantage since he wanted to lay a low profile, and in a couple more days people didn''t even bother to greet him anymore. There was a special type of reputation to gossipthat went around this community, Yue Fei had told him. The only thing these guys talk about are the people who are amazing, who have clawed their way to the top, who inspire others to fight harder, these are the people worth talking about. You? If you just act average no one will care about you. During these peaceful days, Baron, Yue Fei, Xu Da, and Ban Chao were laughing it up and drinking to their hearts content talking about strategies, and counterstrategies, and epic moments when they got to see the top brass have simulations against each other. These four men developed a deep friendship towards each other and slowly began to trust each other more and more. (YF) "Oh yes, you should probably go and see Madam Zheng now, I''m sure you still have many questions you have to ask her." Yue Fei said suddenly remembering Madam Zheng''s invitation to Baron. (BM) "You''re right, I do still have a few questions left to ask her." (XD) "Woah, you even got the naval genius to notice you? Looks like you are a bit more special than I thought." Xu Da said half jokingly. (BC) "It is indeed quite amazing that you get the chance to have an audience with her. Have you considered why she''s bothering to do this all for a nobody like you?" Ban Chao asked nonchalantly. (BM) "Actually, that''s a good question. Yue Fei, do you know anything? You are after all the only one of us who have seen her." (YF) "Sorry, I''ve got no clue." (BM) "It''s probably time for me to go meet this lady and see if she can provide a few answers for me. How do I get there Yue Fei?" (YF) "Just go down to the portal room and go into the one that says elders hall, ask someone in there to guide you to Madam Zheng''s place." (BM) "Alright thanks." Baron replied then promptly left to follow Yue Fei''s instructions. 19 Madam Zheng Baron stepped out of the portal into a large room bustling with noise, there were many tables spread across the room where many people were seated. He lifted his eyebrows as he finally realized what was happening in the room. This room had many gorgeous fellows engaging in what seemed to be strategical prowess competitions. Seemingly out of the blue, a soft voice spoke from behind him. Apprentice (A) "Hello there I am an apprentice here, how may I help you?" (BM) "Ah, hello there sister, could I trouble you to take me to Madam Zheng''s place?" (A) "Do you have an invitation? Most elders don''t allow just anyone to met h them, you have to get their consent first." (BM) "I do actually have n invitation. It''s actually Madam Zheng who wanted to see me." (A) "Then may I know your name?" (BM) "It''s Baron Magellan" (A) "Alright just wait here for a bit, and don''t disturb disturb here. I''ll go inform Madam Zheng of your arrival." (BM) "What is it exactly they do here?" (A) "I''m sorry? How new are you?" (BM) "I''ve only been here a couple of weeks I believe." (A) "Do you think I''m a fool?No way someone as new as you could have gotten an invitation from someone as high up as Madam Zheng. You must be lying." (BM) "You have reason to doubt me, but I don''t think you have the authority to do the same to Yue Fei''s word. He told me personally that it was Madam Zheng who wanted to have a chat with me." (A) "Now you are bringing more elders into this? You are so despicable, GUARDS throw him out" (BM) "Wait a second...." Li Xin (LX) "What''s going on here" Li Xin was another apprentice here, but his reputation was far above the person that Baron was talking to. This was because he had an elder by his side, and not only that he had one of the two current great elders by his side. For this reason nobody dared to disrespect him, not even the top 20 elders would unless they absolutely had to. (A) "This youngster here is trying to get an audience with the great Madam Zheng, but he''s only been here for a few weeks. Many people don''t even get an invitation after being here for centuries. Only a fool would believe him. Humph." She said ever so smugly. (LX) "Haha, there is no need to be so anxious over such a trivial matter, we are all intelligent people let''s resolve this matter peacefully. Young man, may I know your name?" (BM) "Greetings elder I am Baron Magellan, may I know what your name is?" (LX) "Good kid, I like him already. My name is Li Xin and I am also an apprentice here, though I am not very highly ranked myself, I have many ties with fairly strong individuals and even some elders." (BM) "That''s very impressive." (LX) "You say you got an invitation from Madam Zheng? Who delivered this message to you?" (BM) "This message was passed along to me by the likes of elder Yue Fei. He was the one who I first had a simulation match against when I got here." (LX) "Now I remember who you are. One of the elders actually told me about how Madam Zheng practically declared her interest in you with all of the other elders around." Li Xin turned around to the female apprentice who was now visibly embarrassed. "What are you waiting for? Go inform Madam Zheng that her honoured guest has arrived." The lady opened her mouth to speak, but couldn''t manage to form any words. So she just turned and walked away to do her assigned task. Li Xin wanted to make Baron an ally, if he managed to attract someone as great as the naval genius then they surely can not be such an ordinary person. After all one can never have too much allies, with this in mind he once again turned to talk to Baron. (LX) "Let''s have a seat and chat while we wait for her to come back." Li Xin said to Baron and gestured him to sit down. "Do you know I am?" (BM) "I do, yes. You are one of the Qin commanders of the warring states period who helped to usher in the very first unified China." (LX) "Good, good. So how has your first few weeks been here?" (BM) "You know what? I''m kind of alright. Dying didn''t seem to effect my mental stability at all like I had imagined." (LX) "You are quite an interesting lad. However, I do understand where you''re coming from. Back when I was alive, the 7 states would vie for supremacy amongst themselves. Without a care for the humans slaughtered, the lives ruined, the cities sacked, all they cared about was being the strongest, the best, the greatest." (BM) "In a way, that mentality continued long after your death. China had only recently managed to become united again." (LX) "How long did it take after my death?" (BM) "Close to another 2,00 years" (LX) "It took us that long to become truly unified? Looks like old Ying Zheng hadn''t managed to make much of an impact in China''s history then." (BM) "That''s not true, if it weren''t for you guys we would be a lot less better off than we are now." (LX) "I''ll have to take your word for it. I''m glad all the struggles I went through has helped the future generations." The two immediately chatted each other up and became well acquainted within minutes, they continued to talk until the apprentice returned. (A) "Madam Zheng is prepared to see you now Baron." (BM) "Ah excellent, I''ll see you around then, senior Li Xin." (LX) "I haven''t talked to anyone of the younger generation in a long time, let''s talk later if we get the chance." (BM) "Definitely, lead the way apprentice." The two got up and left for their own respective tasks. The apprentice led Baron down many twisting corridors and pathways. Finally she stopped at at a grand looking door compared to every other door he had seen in this place. She knocked on the door and informed Madam Zheng that Baron had arrived. With Madam Zheng''s approval Baron entered the room where 3 people were sitting at a huge table with many maps scattered across it. Madam Zheng (MZ) "Ah, hello there, you must be Baron. I am Madam Zheng one of the pillars of the Chinese Alliance. And these two men beside me are my two husbands back when I was alive." (BM) "Oh uh, greetings seniors." He said shocked at how straightforward she was and cupped his hands to greet them. (MZ) "Oh my, well aren''t you just respectful, if only there were more people who thought like you do." She said as she led Baron to another, more quiet room and the both of them sat down on chairs. "So, before we get to my questions do you have any questions for me?" (BM) "Thank you senior I do indeed have a few questions for you. First of all where is this place and what are all those people out there scrambling for?" (MZ) "Good question, this place is the central barracks of the Chinese strategists. As for those people outside, they are all your countrymen and they are madly preparing for the Strategists Death Match tournament that is occurring in a few years. Anything else?" (BM) "Please tell me more about this tournament, it''s a few years off, why are they acting so franticnow?" (MZ) "Thats because even the slightest preparation can determine the outcome of a match. After all it is better to be prepared than to lose everything. Isn''t it?" (BM) "Yes, of course. Moving on, so the counter worker back there told me that I was lucky because I''m Chinese, she said that you guys were fairly highly ranked in the top 5 planets. My question is this, is there a ranking system on this planet, and if so who decides who is at the top?" (MZ) "There is in fact a ranking system on this planet and that is decided by the tournament. The top five currently are the countries of Jordsand, UK, Chinese, Mongolian, and USA." (BM) "Jordsand? Who are they? And how are they first?" (MZ) "It is indeed a mystery of how they are first, even though they are no longer a country on Earth. We believe we have figured it out though, we believe that these Jordsand strategists are actually not representatives of the actual Jordsand people, but rather representatives of the...." She leaned in closer to Baron and whispered "game masters." 20 All Speculation (BM) "The game masters?" Baron hid his surprise well but he was shocked beyond by this revelation. After all this was technically the afterlife,who knew someone would make it into a game? "Who are these game masters?" (MZ) "This is a bit complicated to explain, plus most of this is just baseless speculation. However, no one can doubt that planet 4, all the other planets, and this whole reality that is the afterlife is a bit suspicious." Madam Zheng thought carefully before answering. (BM) "In what way is it suspicious senior?." (MZ) "Have you not noticed?All that we do here, all that our community does, all that anyone on this planet does?This is just one big never ending battlefield full of countless other smaller battlefields. All battles have a purpose, an end goal that the common soldiers are too inexperienced in warfare to understand." (BM) "I think I''m starting to understand. To these game masters we are nothing but pawns, even the two current great elders are likened to the commonest of peasants sent to the battlefield to bolster the numbers." (MZ) "Oh? You are nothing like my expectations of you" (BM) "I''m sorry?" (MZ) "You''re even better. Now what do you think is the end goal of these game masters?" Baron thought long and hard about everything he had witnessed, and learned in the time that he had been on planet 4. Then he came to a realization that shocked him deeply. (BM) "They....Are trying to find something. Probably talented strategists." (MZ) "How do you think they will manage to do that?" Madam Zheng said with her cold and calculating eyes piercing into Baron''s soul. (BM) "The tournament. The current number one place Jordsand, you said they could be representatives of the game masters? Could they be here to assess the talented people? But what for?" (MZ) "That is just one of many possible realities that i''ve come to a conclusion to, it''s anyones guess as to what their actual purpose for being here is. You are a lot more perceptive than I thought. That is a very valuable characteristic here. " (BM) "You flatter me senior. I have to ask though,why are you telling me all this, what are you planning?" (MZ) "oh? Can''t I take interest in my fellow clansmen?" (BM) "The lady apprentice just now said that elders hardly ever grant the normal clansmen audiences, yet you willingly chose to invite me over. I''m no fool, I also know that while you were alive....." (MZ) " Don''tyou dare say it, I get it. You''ve clearly done quite a bit of research on me." (BM) "Apologies. May I ask a few more questions?" (MZ) "What is it?" (BM) "Yue Fei couldn''t answer this question, but he told me it was some sort of upper echelon secret?" (MZ) "What could it be?" (BM) "Why is everyone here so.....good looking?" (MZ) "Oh haha, that''s not a secret really. The answer is that we don''t actually know why." (BM) "It seems really weird to me, why does everyone get plastic surgery after they die? I mean i''m all for it but it would be really nice if I knew why." (MZ) "I haven''t put much thought into it, and neither should you. Maybe one of the great elders know, but no guarantees. Besides we have much more important matters that we need to worry about." (BM) "Oh wait that reminds me, I have one more question. Does the time that passes here the same as the time that passes back on Earth?" (MZ) "Do you know what year I died?" (BM) "1844" (MZ) "That''s...weirdly impressive. What year did you die?" (BM) "2020" (MZ) "Well, if time was the same then the number of years difference in our deaths would be the same, but I''ve only been here for about 80 years. So no, the time flows differently on planet four than on Earth. I''m not too sure about the other planets though." (BM) "Then can you tell me what this Death Match Tournament is all about?" (MZ) "You should forget about this tournament for now. You wouldn''t be able to enter anyway." (BM) "What? I have to enter it''s my ticket back to Earth." (MZ) "The tournament is held once every 1,000 years. Everyone who has been on planet four can participate, but only if they have been here for over 1,000 years themselves." (BM) "No way. There is someone back on Earth that I have to get back to, they can''t wait for 1,000 years." (MZ) "Like I said, time flows differently for them and us. Besides, i''ve heard that if you win the tournament you can choose anytime to go back to Earth. It could be when you died, or 500 years after your death." (BM) "Oh thats good...." (MZ) "But, you won''t be able to win, even if you have had excellent performances your first few simulations." (BM) "Is it about the competition once we enter?" (MZ) "That''s one part of it. You should know that in the tournament it is set up differently each time so that it avoids giving anyone any advantages. The second part is that the people of Jordsand play extremely dirty." (BM) "How dirty?" (MZ) "Who do you think plays the dirtiest in all the history of Earth?" (BM) "Save for a few, every country has had their fair share of generals who make disgusting plays their defining characteristic in warfare." (MZ) "That''s quite an insightful answer, and you''re right. However, these Jordsand players are on a completely new level altogether, militarily and playing dirty. Have you heard of the four great generals of the warring states period of China?" (BM) "Yes, it''s Li Mu, Lian Po, Wang Jian, and Bai Qi I believe." (MZ) "You are correct, these four along with me are 5 out of the top 20 elders in our community. They challenged one of the elders in Jordsand and the four of them combined their knowledge but were still completely destroyed by just one of the regular elders there. Needless to say, anyone above that elder in Jordsand must be complete monsters if just one of their elders could win against four of our best strategists." (BM) "No way, they are that insane? Can you tell me more about this matter" (MZ) "Unfortunately not, what I have told you just now is something everyone knows. However, this is only because the people of Jordsand broadcasted the results to every community on planet four." (BM) "I really wanted to know in what aspect those four were bested by." (MZ) "The broadcast made it sufficiently clear that we were bested in every conceivable aspect." (BM) "That is very disheartening, even much more so since I have to do my utmost to win the tournament next time around. Oh, when is the tournament after this next one?" (MZ) "The next one is in another 400 years, the one after that will be hosted another 1,000 years after that." (BM) "I see, how many blueprints do you have?" (MZ) "Oh, quite a few hundred, but I don''t really use them because my specialty is naval battles. Most of what our community has is land based blueprints, so I have to go to the other communities to go buy the ones I find useful." (BM) "How about a trade?" (MZ) "You? What have you managed to gain in these past few weeks could hardly be said to be impressive, I doubt you have one that suits my interest. But you might as well pitch it." (BM) "I''m sure you''ll love this. I''d like for you to trade all of your blueprints for a blueprint of a basic sea mine." (MZ) "That is something that i''d be interested in.How did you manage to get this?" (BM) "I studied quite a bit of warfare and weapons back when I was alive." (MZ) "Wait a minute, are you saying that you understand the inner workings of many of the technologically superior weapons?" (BM) "Those of note yes, the repeating crossbow, a basic landmine, a basic minesweeper, and a basic rocket launcher to name a few." (MZ) "Do you realize what this mean?" (BM) "Just tell me senior." (MZ) "Our blueprint library is above average compared to the other communities, but we are seriously lacking in some crucial weapons post 1900''s. With your help we could expand it and gain a lot of favour from the elders." She said expecting Baron to show a smile. (BM) "Sorry I don''t think that''s a good idea. Now, do we have a deal or not?" (MZ) "If that is your wish then so be it. And yes, we do have a deal, but I want to test it out first before we make this transaction. Even if these blueprints are worthless to me they still represent the strength of our community, I can''t give it to an idiot can I?" (BM) "No of course not, that is reasonable." The two of them then proceeded to engage in multiple simulations testing out Baron''s land mine. An object of envy in Madam Zheng''s eyes." 21 Protection Although she thought she would never have actually been surprised by anything Baron brought out, she was. Madam Zheng was thoroughly shocked by the extremely destructive weapon that was the basic sea mine. She thought carefully before talking to Baron. She had to calm herself down before she spoke. (MZ) "Yes, this is quite an impressive weapon that you have. I don''t exactly know if this is worth every other blueprint I have though." She said a bit Indifferently. (BM) "Now that I think about it I don''t really need all of your blueprints, I just want to pick a few out of your arsenal." (MZ) "How much are you thinking? " (BM) "I''d have to think about it after you show me all that you have. Remember though, if nothing catches my eye you won''t be getting your basic sea mine blueprint. " (MZ) "Alright then, I''veseen enough how about we go back to see if anything in my arsenal is worth a trade for you." This was it,she thought to herself. If she could get this blueprint then she would become infinity more feared in any sea battles. She knew that although this was just a simple blueprint, this blueprint is considered pretty advanced and if she researched enough into it. She could very well improve upon the designs to become a true modern era sea mine. The two entered back into the room which they were talking in earlier and Madam Zheng laid out a few of her better quality blueprints out for Baron to see. He took a look but he didn''t find anything of interest. To which she put out even more for Baron to rummage through to no avail. (BM) "It doesn''t seem like you have anything that i''m interested in. How about you trade something else in order to obtain this blueprint from me?" (MZ) "Trade what?" Madam Zheng could already guess what Baron wanted. He wanted her protection. The reason that Baron hadn''t had a hard time upon coming to planet 4 was that she had announced to all the elders that Baron was a person of interest to her. Boy was she correct. (BM) "I''m sure you know what I want." (MZ) "Absolutely no way i''d consider such a preposterous trade. You would benefit too much off of this." Madam Zheng did indeed want this blueprint no matter what the cost, but she wanted to get a few more benefits for herself. (BM) "Well if there is no way you would consider such a trade then I suppose our little meeting is at an end." Baron of course knew what Madam Zheng was trying to accomplish, she was trying to haggle the price of the blueprint. He knew that she wanted it badly, but he had to hold firm, if he caved then that would signal to Madam Zheng and everyone else that he was a pushover. He had to assert himself so no one will hold it against him. "I''ve got a few errands to run, why don''t you think about the proposal before you make any final decisions. I''ll be leaving now, thank you for taking the time to see me senior." (MZ) "Alright then I won''t see you out." She said in a daydreamy voice, although she had expected this sort of no I won''t move from my said price mentality that Baron had, she didn''t think he would go as far as completely shutting down any further offers. This was surprising to say the least. The two went their separate ways, but both to inform their closest allies of what had come of their discussion. For Baron this would be Yue Fei, and for Madam Zheng this would be her two husbands. Baron was just informing Yue Fei of what had happened, but Madam Zheng went to seek her two husbands'' opinions on the matter. She ultimately had the final say, but she knew that her two husbands were very capable people and would be good to consult with. After all, she had her opinions and they had theirs. If they disagreed then their entire faction could be impacted. ------------------------------------------------- Husband 1 (H1) "This newcomer sure knows how to bargain." Husband 2 (H2) "This isn''t bargaining, he knows how precious this is to us so he purposely did it in such a shameless way." (MZ) "The point still remains that the sea mine is still highly valuable to us. I think exchanging it for giving someone protection is a small price to pay no?" (H1) "It''s true that giving him some light protection is no big deal for us, but think of what the others will say about us." (H2) "It matters not what they say, we just have to prove them wrong with strength. With that in mind I trust in Madam Zheng''s choice to go through with this trade." (H1) "Well of course you''d say that, hmmmmmmm." He went into deep thought and weighed the pros and cons of each choice. "You two are right, we need to get as strong as we possibly can before we can actually do well in the Death Match Tournament. We get the blueprints that will be highly valuable to us in this trade, and if we play our cards right Baron could become an ally as well." (MZ) "So it''s decided then?" (H1) "Yes, but give him the word later as we still have other more important matters to discuss. Like the Vesper group is trying to suppress us because we have grown incredibly powerful incredibly fast." (MZ) "It matters not that they are suppressing us, once we get this blueprint and invest enough resources into it we should be powerful enough to not be suppressed by the Vespers ever again." (H2) "That may be true however that could still take quite a while, we need a more immediate solution." In the end they couldn''t think of anything and had instead decided to send someone to inform Baron that they were willing to trade based on the aforementioned terms. ------------------------------- (YF) "That''s good. And you are sure that they will accept this proposal of yours?" (BM) "Based on what you told me, yes. They are suppressed by the Vespers right? They would do anything to make themselves stronger, even if it means that they will lose out on a trade." (YF) "Good, now we just need to wait for them to contact us." (BM) "I''ve been meaning to ask how do we create our own group or faction here?" (YF) "A faction?" (BM) "Yes, after my chat with Madam Zheng I realized something. If I want to win the Death Match tournament then I will need a faction of my own, and I will need a strong one at that. It''s a good thing i''ve got 1,500 years to prepare." (YF) "You shouldn''t get too cocky some of the insanely old demons have been here for well over 10,000 years yet they couldn''t do it. I''m telling you these Jordsand strategists are on a whole other level. It doesn''t matter what you do it seems like these guys have already planned for everything you do." (BM) "Everything? Well then, it just seems like we have to prepare for everything then. So tell me how do we start a faction?" (YF) "It won''t be easy I''ll tell you that. The first thing that a faction needs is to have at least 5 strategists be part of the faction. So inviting outside help is not a possibility." (BM) "That''s good, we already have 5 strategists. What about Madam Zheng you said she started her own faction right?" (YF) "Correct, she made a group of 5 consisting of herself, her two husbands, and two other commanders under her when she was still commanding thousands of people at sea when she was alive. She had no problems in getting her faction approved" (BM) "Approved, who does this authority belong to?" (YF) "Every 200 years there will be three new factions that will be approved. It is sort of a battle royale mode where one faction gets approved by beating everyone else at a land battle, another one a sea battle, and the last one an air battle. The land battle portion is the toughest because this is the type of battlefield that most of us are comfortable with. While the next highest difficulty is the sea battles which Madam Zheng has won in the last faction selection tournament. Lastly, the air battle faction selection battlefield has the lowest difficulty." (BM) "Going by my intuition the three battlefields have reached a sort of equilibrium right? Some faction startups aren''t strong enough to win in the land or sea battles so they choose to go to the easiest air battlefield. This causes the land and sea battlefields to have the least competitors but still the highest difficulty. While the air battle portion will have more competitors and therefore reaches a sort of equilibrium within the three battlefields." (YF) "You guessed it, but choosing which battlefield to compete in is still extremely important. It''s not just about which one has the least competitors it''s about what you are most confident in. Too many don''t realize this and go for the air battles just to make a fool of themselves." (BM) "I see, then which battlefield do you think we should compete in?" (YF) "How confident are you in air battles?" (BM) "Very confident." (YF) "Then it''s decided, for the next faction selection tournament we will be competing in the air portion." 22 We Have a Deal (BM) "What about yourself? Are you confident in air battles?" (YF) "It''s not that I''m confident in winning the air portion, I''m just not confident in winning the other two battlefields right now. You see, this time around there are multiple elders in each of the three competitions. All of them are higher ranked than me. I''m no fool, I''ve faced off against some of these fellows before, let me tell you something, they are all monsters." (BM) "You have difficulty defeating them too?" (YF) "You are too naive to think in such a way. These people that are competing this year have hundreds of blueprints in their arsenal. The only advantage that a start up faction like us have is that everyone who has competed before has to register what battlefield they plan to fight in." (BM) "And the majority of them are competing in the land and sea battlefields?" (YF) "Yes, and there is something else you should be aware of, there are plenty of people who don''t carry the title of elder but are still plenty stronger than me. The elder ranking system is based on contributions and not just about strength." (BM) "Do you know exactly who is stronger than you that is in the faction selection competition?" (YF) "It''s not a definite answer but I believe there are 33 groups we would have some sort of difficulty in beating. 15 of these groups will be competing in the land battlefield, 12 of them will be competing in the sea battle, and the other 5 will be in the air battle." (BM) "No wonder you wanted to go for the air battlefield." (YF) "Yes, although there is less honour in winning the air battle, that doesn''t mean much to me." (BM) "Nor should it. Honour may be important here, but strength is still absolute. What better way to prove our strength than to form our own faction." (YF) "There is just one more matter we need to discuss, who will be the faction leader?" (BM) "I''m afraid i''ll have to rely on you for this position. After all, no one will respect us if someone who hasn''t been here very long becomes a faction leader, even if they have an elder on board. However, you are already famous here, a lot of the lower tier factions will respect us just with that one point. Plus I need to lay low for the next little bit." (YF) "That''s true, Madam Zheng and her group rose to prominence a little too quickly, that''s why they are being targeted by the Vesper''s and their allies. Things aren''t looking good for them at the moment." (BM) "Yea that''s exactly what I mean. What about resources, once we have a faction we need resources to run it and everything right?" (YF) "Yes, that''s the other thing. Running a faction takes a huge amount of resources. An amount that we need to be ready to pay once we actually start one." (BM) "How do we acquire the necessary resources?" (YF) "There''s lots of ways, the fastest of which is selling blueprints. The second way is to contribute towards the Chinese community and they will reward you handsomely. Lastly, you can enter into competitions, both within and outside the community, and enter the top 5. The top 5 places will have the best rewards while everything under it pales by comparison." (BM) "I see, then we''ll talk about this later. You have no doubts about your ally that will be joining us?" (YF) "None, he has been with me ever since I got here, I knew him back when I was alive too. Don''t worry he is as trustworthy as they come." (BM) "That puts me at ease. How long is it until the next faction selection competition?" (YF) "About 120 or so years." (BM) "Oh, then it''s still quite a ways away then." (YF) "All the more time for us to get prepared." (BM) "That''s true." At this moment a person came in wearing an outfit with a battleship logo on it came to where Baron and Yue Fei were talking. This battleship represented anyone from the Red Flag Faction, aka Madam Zheng''s faction. (M) "Please come with me Baron, Madam Zheng has made a decision regarding your proposal." The messenger said to Baron and beckoned him to follow. (YF) "You better go, best not to make one of the top 20 elders wait for you." (BM) "Alright then, I''ll be off." The messenger and Baron went all the way back to Madam Zheng''s headquarters and the four of them began to discuss. (BM) "So tell me what you''ve decided to do, senior." (H2) "Well, we''ve decided to take you up on your offer. We hope you won''t go back on your word?" The second husband said politely. (BM) "Hehe senior, I won''t ever go back on my word." (MZ) "Well that''s good, so bring out your blueprint and we''ll announce that you are under our protection from now on." (BM) "I''m sorry to say that I must have to change our previous agreement. You''ll still get your blueprint don''t worry, but instead of protecting me you''ll have to extend that protection to the faction that i''m starting with Yue Fei. This can possibly turn into an alliance between our two groups." (H1) "Absolutely preposterous. I won''t have such blatant disrespect coming from someone as young as you." The first husband practically yelled at Baron. (BM) "Now let me explain first, senior." Baron said in an attempt to calm down this angry bear. "I don''t expect for you three to do this without extra compensation I''ll throw in something extra for you guys." (H1) "Now you''re speaking my language, what have you got in store for us?" (BM) "I''m sure you guys will love this. I''ll give you guys the blueprint required for the basic sea mine that I promised, plus an upgrade to the sea mine." (MZ) "Oh? You''ve piqued my interest. What kind of upgrade?" (BM) "I''m afraid I can''t tell you guys anything until you agree to the terms of my proposal. Would you like me to leave the room for a bit before you seniors discuss?" (H2) "No need, I think I speak for the other two that we are ready to accept your newest proposal." Baron looked at the two others in the room. The first husband wasn''t even looking at Baron while Madam Zheng could only lightly smile towards Baron''s direction. Clearly they weren''t too happy with what condition they had to uphold. This was because they would lose some face when news of this eventually went out to the general public. (BM) "Well if that''s that i''ll give you guys the blueprint in a matter of days. While you guys don''t officially announce anything of this conversation to the others." (MZ) "Worry not, this isn''t the first time we''ve had to make such deals." (BM) "Alright then, i''ll be off seniors." Baron quickly exited the room and sighed a sigh of relief. This was just the first step of his plan to become the champion of the Death Match Tournament, he needed to constantly remind himself that everything he was doing on Planet 4 was for Roxi, whom he had for the first time in his life felt alive. He was doing all this so that he could get back to Earth, it might be a long shot but he knew it was either that or continue to live here and rot away like countless before him. The next few days were frantic for Baron, Yue Fei, Xu Da, and Ban Chao. Baron was having the other three teach him how to make a blueprint. Now, he knew how to make weapons, but translating that took a bit more time than just showing another person how to do it. Plus, there were all the small little details that tell the schematics of the contraption that Baron was making, and all the other little details were extremely important for every blueprint. Since this was Baron''s first time making these schematics, he decided to practice it on a few other much simpler weapons like basic bows, and regular swords and shields. By the time he had finished he had well over 200 blueprints lying all over the table of where he was working. The three around him were all astonished to see that Baron could manage to create such a numerous amount of blueprints all from memory, and all of them unique too. Granted, most of them were fairly low quality but still impressive nonetheless. By the time he had finished he had well over 200 blueprints lying all over the table of where he was working. The three around him were all astonished to see that Baron could manage to create such a numerous amount of blueprints all from memory, and all of them unique too. Granted, most of them were fairly low quality but still impressive nonetheless. The days went by more and more blueprints began piling up. Yue Fei had elder business to take care of so he didn''t stay like Ban Chao and Xu Da. These two just spent every moment looking through the vast amounts of blueprints that Baron was producing and had their jaw drop every single time. (BC) "Scottish dirk? Macedonian long spear? Japanese katana? There are so many from so many different countries. How did you get ahold of such marvellous blueprints?" (BM) "Didn''t I mention already? Back when I was alive I studied all sorts of strategies and weapons, even non lethal weapons that have been used in the battlefield. After all, any side is only as good as their technology." (XD) "Do you plan on selling these blueprints to the Chinese community?" (BM) "Not all of them no. From what I hear, the most common blueprints here are from China, then Korea, then Mongolia. Based on that i''ll only sell blueprints from those three countries. I would raise too much attention if I sold blueprints from any other country." (YF) "Are you going to make me sell all of these for you?" (BM) "Close, but no. The three of you will have to sell these for me. Before you go can you explain the monetary system here?" (XD) "To put it simply, everyone on planet 4 uses the same currency. Which reminds me, here take this." (BM) "Oh what is this? A coin pouch?" (YF) "Haha no. That is a pouch that can fit an infinite amount of stuff in there. So its quite useful for us here since the currency we use here are coins and coins can get very heavy. There are two main types of coins that we use on Planet 4. One is Gold currency and the other is Silver currency. Gold currency is what everyone on Planet 4 uses to exchange goods with one another. While the Silver coins are only for within communities. You can compare it with the different currencies of each country on Earth. It''s different for every community, and it can be traded for gold coins." 23 Auction (BM) "So gold coins are universal here and silver coins are community specific?" (YF) "That''s correct. Now the value for each of the silver coin are different. The stronger your community, the higher value your coin, the more respect we get, the more benefits we receive. Since we are the third highest ranking community we have the third highest value silver coin. All silver coins are worth less than the gold coins though. One common weapon blueprint can be sold for about ten-ish of our coins. something a little more uncommon like a booby trap can be sold for a few hundred of our coins. That basic sea mine that you sold to Madam Zheng could go upwards of 5,000 coins. It''s just about finding the right buyer." (BM) "What kind of blueprint would be the most expensive?" (XD) "Something like that hasn''t been passed through here yet, but I would say the more modern the weapon then the expensive it would be. I believe the most expensive blueprint that has ever been purchased was by someone from another community, i''m not sure which. This blueprint was a top secret purchase the only thing we know is that it was purchased for over 100,000 gold coins. For reference that would be around close to 500,000 of our Chinese silver coins." (BM) "Wow, so how much silver coins do you all have?" (YF) "I''ve got about 5,000. Since i''m an elder I get paid a few hundred every year, this is already fairly good." (XD) "I''ve got about 600." (BC) "900" (BM) "Well i''ve got nothing so lets go sell some blueprints." Baron divided his 200 odd blueprints into 3 groups. One group would not be sold, therefore decreasing suspicion and prying eyes. The other two groups were to be given to Yue Fei, and Xu Da/ Ban Chao with Yue Fei getting most of the blueprints. Since these three already had connections with the auction house in the Chinese community Baron decided to stay out of it and just watch from the side lines. The way the auction worked was there was a huge hall and a bunch of blueprints would lying on raised platforms all of them with a description card. On the description card there was the seller''s info, the blueprint''s name, date until the bidding ends, the starting bid amount, and a long list of blanks. Just waiting for people to fill it in with their name and their bid amount. After the bidding time ends, the auction house would deliver the blueprint to the winner and receive the payment. Of which the auction house takes about 10% of the amount the blueprint sold for, the commission rate that the auction house varies from person to person. If the seller is an elder the auction house will take 8%, if they are one of the top 20 elders it''s 6%, and if it was one of the two current great elders then they would only take 3%. Frequent sellers can lower their percentage too. Yue Fei was an elder but hadn''t done much selling so the auction house would take 8%. With this in mind, Baron gave Yue Fei the most and the best blueprints he had drawn up. The other two were considered regulars and they also hadn''t done much in the auction section. So these two were selling blueprints that were of lower quality than the ones Yue Fei had received. Baron had planned everything to maximize their profit and to increase the reputation of his 3 allies. While also keeping himself out of selling due to him wanting to keep a low profile. He wasn''t laying low for fear of being suppressed, no no no. He wanted to push all three of his first allies into top 20 elder''s position. That way once he actually did reveal himself he would already have the backing of three of the top 20 elder''s positions. Not many people in the Chinese community would ever dare to offend such a big name, much less 3. Baron first tagged along with Yue Fei to see how the auction works firsthand. Baron had given Yue Fei a total of 40 blueprints, there were 20ish common weapon blueprints, 10ish uncommon weapon blueprints, and only 3 that were considered a very uncommon blueprint. Yue Fei spoke with the auction representative with courtesy and respect, once the formalities were set aside the two began to talk business. In the end, Yue Fei''s blueprints had an accumulated starting bid of 2,000 silver coins. This amount may not be much, but as soon as people start bidding, the more money will be made. Xu Da and Ban Chao went together with Baron and they did the same things as Yue Fei had done with the auction representative. However, it was evident that this representative did not give very much face to this group because they did not have the same standing as Yue Fei had had. Baron and his group were still courteous, but the representative only gave them cold replies. By the end of their meeting with the representative they had an accumulated starting bid of 1,300 silver coins. This was because this group was selling the lower tier blueprints. All in all, with the combined total of selling about 110 blueprints they had an accumulated total of 3,300 silver chinese coins for a start. Now all they had to do was to wait for the end of the bidding and collect their earnings. During the meantime the four of them went off to take care of their own businesses. They had decided to have their blueprints be up for bidding for 1 week, and after that time passed Baron once again went in separately with the two groups. Unbeknownst to any of them, one of the very uncommon blueprints that was up for bid stirred up quite a commotion in the community. This was because the blueprint that was being sold was one detailing the schematics of the Mongolian longbow. This was prized as many to be one of the best bows that human hands have ever crafted, and naturally many people wanted it for their own gain. This one blueprint had raked in an amazing 500 silver coins after taking out commission, it was bought by one of the elders. The starting bid was 100 silver coins and quite a few elders were fighting over it so that made the bids go higher and higher until it reached 500. This was a rare occurrence. Putting everything together, Baron''s group had received slightly over 6,000 silver coins and to them it was more than enough, at least for now. With their newfound wealth, they decided to buy a sort of headquarters for themselves. Buying a place of your own was a sort of status symbol on planet 4, most people decided that the community provided lodgings were sufficient since buying one was quite expensive. Madam Zheng and her group took a few decades to amass enough wealth to buy their own headquarters, yet Baron''s group had managed to do it in a much shorter period of time. With this new headquarters they would be able to do whatever they wanted out of the sight of others. They had complete freedom here, they could devise their plans, and do their training here instead of at the community where there were countless people. This hq they bought had cost them 2,500 silver coins and they had to pay a further 500 silver coins each year. The initial cost was enough to deter most people from buying their own never mind the 500 coin payment every year. Most people just didn''t have the capital to do it. That''s why most people just joined an existing faction and went to live in their hq, or even barracks if the faction was rich enough to afford it. The auction had successfully fulfilled two of Baron''s wishes. One was to temporarily gather enough resources, and the second was to increase the fame and prestige that his three allies received. Yue Fei had even been promoted a few ranks higher in the elder rankings. While the other two was even more well known than they were before. It should be known that most people wouldn''t sell their blueprints because that could potentially give someone an edge over the others. Most people had this selfish mentality of only buying blueprints but never selling. Due to this reason there wasn''t many blueprints being circulated within the people of the Chinese community. With Yue Fei, Xu Da, and Ban Chao selling their over 100 blueprints at the same time, the auction hall was a little bit livelier than usual. In a typical week, only about 600 or 700 blueprints would be up for bidding. Having three people suddenly bring in over a hundred to sell was quite a shock to many to say the least. This type of event would be brushed off by many as just a few people who valued money over blueprints, but there were a few who took notice and began investigating these three. Baron already knew this was going to happen so he had all four of them lay low by only having simulation matches with the other community members for a year. Once a year had passed Baron knew that most spies wouldn''t follow them anymore since they had nothing to report about. Within this year, Baron had teamed up with Yue Fei, Xu Da, and Ban Chao to have multiple simulations against others. Baron and his allies still needed to lay low, so they couldn''t be too outstanding in their battles. Instead what Baron had his team do was that everyone of them would spectate what each other do and give pointers to one another, and Baron knew better than anyone about the basics of warfare. He drilled the basics again and again into Xu Da, and Ban Chao as these two needed more polishing than Yue Fei. Xu Da and Ban Chao may have more experience than Baron in war, however they were vastly inferior when it came to split second decisions. Over this year the four of them helped each other to grow and become better strategists. It was now time to move forward with the second phase of Baron''s plan. 24 Han Xin Simulations against others were not all that they did during their year of laying low. They also continued to sell blueprints like crazy. This made it so that their prestige rose higher and higher. After discussing matters with the others, Baron and his group decided to form their faction first, stay at the Chinese community for a few years, venture outside the Chinese Community for a few hundred years, come back to witness how the Chinese community fares in the Death Match Tournament. At least that was the plan, but for now they just focused on getting better at simulations. Quietly another three years passed and they just continued doing their own thing. By now they had finally met their fifth member that was recommended by Yue Fei. He didn''t talk much, but he was plenty well versed in the art of warfare. His name was Han Xin and everyone didn''t seem to realize who this legend was, but Baron did. Baron wasn''t sure why such a legend as Han Xin wasn''t an elder, he had more than enough talent and military know how to do so. It seemed that everyone only regarded him as a good strategist.Baron had to get to the bottom of this so he brought Han Xin to an empty room and the two started to chat. (BM) "So why are you not more famous than you already are? What are you hiding?" (HX) "I don''t need to tell you anything, I wouldn''t even be here if my good friend Yue Fei hadn''t invited me over." (BM) "Look, we need to be honest with each other if we are to work together in complete trust." (HX) "You still stink of your mother''s womb boy, you shouldn''t stick your nose into something you aren''t supposed to. " (BM) "Well we need to understand each other if we are to start a faction together. Am I wrong in what I say?" (HX) "I understand trust between faction members are important, but you should also understand that this matter is by no means any of your concern." (BM) "If that''s how you feel then alright. Just make sure that doesn''t interfere with what our end goals are." Baron left after saying this and he went to his own room to contemplate what would be their future would be like with someone like Han Xin in the fray. He had learned two things from Han Xin in their little chat just now. The first was that Han Xin was hiding something important from them, and that could very well impact theirbfaction''s future growth. This matter had to be resolved aooner or later, and Baron intended to do it as soon as possible. There were a few possibilities that Baron could think of that was making Han Xin act this way. One was that he was a spy for some other,larger faction. Another one was that he just genuinely wanted to be unknown here since he had had a traumatic experience after coming to planet 4. Or perhaps he just wanted to live his life here peacefully after having suicided when he was still alive. Baron could think of many more possibilities but these three seemed the most likely. Baron decided to inquire about this matter to the three other members. He began by telling them that Han Xin had many accomplishments under his belt when he was alive, but now it seemed like he didn''t have much motivation for greatness. (BM) "Do any of you know anything about this?" (XD) "Sorry brother, I haven''t met him before so I wouldn''t know." Xu Da replied with a bit of worry in his voice" (BC) "I''ve only met him a couple of times before, but never officially got to talk with him so I don''t know either. I never imagined he was such an incredible person before." Ban Chao said with a bit of surprise in his face. (YF) "Well, since I was the one who invited him I do know a bit more than you guys. However, for as long as I''ve known him he has been silent as a snake, and he seems to look at everyone with distaste." (BM) "If that''s his personality, how did you manage to befriend him?" (YF) "Its actually a pretty funny story, so one time me and him and a couple of others were teamed together for a regular tournament here. I seemed to have impressed him or something, because after that tournament he allowed me to call on him whenever I wanted to. To this day I think he has only ever given me this regard. I''m not sure what it is that made him favourite me though." (BM) "I think I''ve got an idea as to what that could be, but I have no intention of using that method to make him favourite me too. I''ve got to use another way." (BC) "Why are you so obsessed with this matter?" (BM) "This Han Xin fellow is quite the powerhouse when it comes to strategy. I believe if we can successfully rope him in as an ally of his own free will, then our faction''s strength will become that much stronger. Plus we need all tge help we can get, although the four of us are strong, there is no absolutes in war. If Han Xin only helps us halfheartedly, then that might make us regress instead of progeess." (YF) "I understand what you are trying to say. If we can get Han Xin to follow us willingly, then the future of our faction will be brighter." (BM) "Exactly, let''s all of us each have separate simulations against him and analyze his particular moves, then we''ll try a team battle,then we''ll see what happens. Xu Da you go against him first, and remember to try and drag on the battle for as long as possible. our goal is to try to see what quirks this fellow has, not whether or not we can beat him." (XD) "Alright I understand, will you three be spectating then? Or will you just stay out here to attend to other matters?" (BM) "I will definitely be spectating, I put this matter as the highest priority in my mind. You two should come to watch as well if you aren''t too busy." In the end Xu Da and Han Xin battled in the simulation with Baron, Yue Fei, and Ban Chao all spectating. Baron had warned the three that focusing on defense was their best course of action. Even so they had told Han Xin to not hold back when fighting so as to get a better feel of him. The setting of the simulation between Han Xin and the rest was set to random so no one side would get an advantage over the other. For Xu Da and Han Xin''s simulation the setting was thesiege of Jerusalem in the year 1099. The defending side would be Xu Da. His Fatimid Caliphate consisted of a sizable garrison and about 400 elite cavalrymen. On the other hand, Han Xin and his Crusaders consisted of over 10,000 foot soldiers, and 1,200 knights. The difference in commanders were different too. Xu Da only had one person capable of leading his troops, while Han Xin had ten. Things were looking bleaker and bleaker for Xu Da. No matter what though Xu Da had to try and drag out this battle for as long as he could, no matter what the odds were. This time both sides had a week to prepare, and given that both sides were provided a map of the surrounding area. In this map included a few other cities and ports as well as each others starting position. Since Xu Da was defending he had to stay at Jerusalem, Han Xin however, had set out for Jerusalem the moment the simulation started. At this moment, Baron contacted both Xu Da and Han Xin through the system and made a proposal. Baron would become an advisor to Xu Da during this simulation and would therefore not see everything happening on the battlefield as a spectator should. Han Xin thought nothing of it and agreed, Xu Da instantly agreed and soon enough Baron arrived to Xu Da and immediately began ordering the troops around. Baron had decided to become an advisor because as far as he knew, this map was not very well known. Therefore, there were a few secrets to the battlefield that wasn''t very well known withinthe Chinese community. However, Baron had done sufficient research into this battlefield back when he was alive and knew a few particular tidbits that could help Xu Da potentially win. One of these secrets was that three Crusaders that Han Xin commanded may have better trained soldiers and commanders, but they did not bring the required wood to build ladders and siege towers to get over the walls of Jerusalem. The very first thing that Baron did was to order all the trees surrounding Jerusalem to be clear cut. Not a single tree within a 10 km radius was to be seen. This first task cost his inhabitants and soldiers 5 days to complete, the remaining two days were spent on making the repeating crossbows and other surprises for the crusading army that was fast approaching Jerusalem. Quickly, the two days passed and the siege between Xu Da/Baron and Han Xin would begin. 25 The Victor is.... The battle day began with Xu Da and his Fatimid Caliphate defending inside the city. Meanwhile, Han Xin just stood there thinking of what the best way for him to invade the city was. He did not think much of it, but on the way here he had noticed a bunch of trees being clear cut like no tomorrow. He knew that this was no coincidence, he just didn''t know why Baron and Xu Da had decided to spend so much time and effort to do such a demanding task. Now he understood part of the reason, it was to make weapons. He wasn''t big on talking gossip so he didn''t know that Baron had such a fearsome blueprint as repeating crossbows to his name. However, the repeating crossbow had limited effect here, since all of Han Xin''s elite units were equipped with heavy armour, while his foot soldiers were loosely equipped with sparing metal armor laying around. The repeating crossbow couldn''t even damage his elite units, and it would take quite a few shots to kill one of his foot soldiers. However, he was faced with a problem. He had no wood to use to build ladders, trebuchets,and siege engines to lay waste to Jerusalem. Since Jerusalem was a walled city these objects of warfare was essential. He had to think of something before his men started to lose morale. This was his and Xu Day''s first time on this map so they had no clue of the certain little tidbits that each map had. He was no fool either, if he tried to rush the castle with just his men, then that would just be delivering the victory to his opponent. After all, his soldiers weren''t invincible, and neither were the armor that they were wearing. They could only take so much punishment before being broken. He decided that his army should not advance on the very first day, and he plus his 10 capable commanders went into a tent to strategize on what could be done about this seemingly daunting situation. Just like this the first day of battle concluded with no casualties on either side. By the second morning they still had not figured anything out so they continued to wait and brainstorm. However, Baron was aware of the reason that the crusaders managed to win this battle in history. They had gone to the nearest port city to destroy the ships and take the wood from that. So Baron, knowing that Han Xin would think of doing this very thing eventually, decided to march a few thousand of his army to recruit the citizens of the nearest port and then set ablaze their ships. Unsurprisingly, the people agreed. These people were after all part of the defending side although they didn''t like each other very much. Baron''s efforts bore fruit and within a short half day he had managed to get a few thousand more foot soldiers. All of this was unknown to Han Xin until he led a fairly large detachment to personally take over the nearest port city. The only thing that awaited him was an abondoned port with everything either looted or burned down. The logical explanation for this would''ve been to assume that this port had been ransacked, but Han Xin knew better. He had experienced many strategies and this move from Baron and Xu Da did not surprise him. However, the speed at which they executed such a task was impressive to say the least. The problem still remained though, he needed to lay siege to the city, and going by his estimates the land around Jerusalem was terrible for foraging and getting clean water. He only had limited supplies for his men. What was he to do? He also needed wood to build the proper weapons for a siege. Would he risk it and attack other cities or ports for their wood? Or perhaps he should retreat back to where he knows there will be wood. He chose neither of these and instead decided to prep his army for an all out assault against Jerusalem. Han Xin did not have any clue as to what made his soldiers want to participate in this battle. The reason was that this was part of the crusades that had a lot of religious backing behind it. These soldiers were no different, many of them were Roman Catholics and had a desire to free the holy Capitol of Jerusalem from Muslim rule. Had he used a speech that included this factor, he may have stirred up more courage from the men. Then he sent them to attack the walled city and use the few makeshift battering rams they did bring. No matter how experienced he was, there was no way that he could''ve predicted Baron and Xu Da jad obtained the blueprint for the repeating crossbow. He didn''t issue a retreat and instead watched as literally thousands of arrows hit his men. Han Xin had arranged men so that his elite knights would be at the very forefront, and the foot soldiers at the rear. His crusaders had a few archers too, but against the might of the repeating crossbow what could they do but shoot back in vain? The only thing the enemy did was to shoot these arrows and taunt the crusaders. At the end of the third day, the crusaders were nowhere closer to bringing down Jerusalem than they were yesterday. They had sustained many casualties, mostly injured but quite a few deaths too. The crusaders had lost about 300 soldiers today and many, many more were injured. On the other side the Fatimid Caliphate led by Baron and Xu Da had less than 50 deaths and even less injured. The opening clash had gone to the defending side and Han Xin had seen enough to realize that repeating what he did today wan not going to be enough to break through. Han Xin spent an entire night concocting a plan to claim the city, and by morning he knew exactly what he should do. He spent the next few hours preparing his men to carry out his newly formulated plan. The situation was not completely against them, he had a few options he could use to overtake the city. Going by his estimates, going back to gather wood and make the necessary siege weapons would take quite a while. By midday he had decided, and within a mere few hours he had ordered a full retreat so fast that Baron''s scouts lost sight of them. Baron was shocked by how effortlessly Han Xin had ordered a full scale retreat, so much so that none of his men knew where the crusaders went. He was suspicious, to say the least, of what Han Xin was thinking. Why did he order a full scale retreat, was it to launch a surprise attack at an obscure time, or was he just trying to buy time for something else entirely? In the end he and Xu Da could only guess as to what Han Xin had planned for them and could increase the lookouts posted on the walls. Baron and Xu Da waited for news. One day passed, two days, three days, a week, two weeks. At this point Baron was getting extremely cautious and ordered that multiple ditches be dug around certain areas around the city. These were strategically placed to cover up the weak spots on the walls. It would be after an entire month before the two of them got any news regarding Han Xin and the crusaders. They had finally just completed their ditch building project and were awaiting Han Xin to make the move. However, although Han Xin could''ve chose to attack at any time, he chose to study the area with the newly dug ditches and forming a plan. He noticed that although Baron and Xu Da had managed to overall increase their defensivecapabilities, they missed out on every single one. Han Xin''s incredibly sharp eyes saw 2 openings in which his siege towers could advance. Within the last 6 weeks of preparation, he had made 12 siege towers, 20 catapults, a few trebuchets, and hundreds of ladders. All of them basics of siege warfare. After formulating his plan he spent no time ordering his troops to get into formation and await further orders. He first had his catapults and trebuchets pelt thr city non stop for close to a day. Then ordered his men to advance with the siege towers going down a specific route that Han Xin had told them before hand. The rate at which the catapults and trebuchets destroyed the city walls were frightening. The charge by the siege towers and crusaders right after it was even more so. Although the defending army managed to hold on until nightfall, they had close to no morale. What little they had after the biblical nightmare that was the catapult and trebuchet assault, was completely shattered after the crusaders began attacking themselves. By this point Baron and Xu Da saw no point in continuing this simulation so they just up and surrendered. Han Xin had claimed victory from the two of them despite all of Baron''s careful planning and better knowledge of the map. Han Xin had turned it all around with even better preparation and in an absolutely dominating way. Clearly, Baron had much to learn before he could enter into the tournament that would get him back to Earth. 26 Kowalski, Analysis This was a learning experience for everybody involved. Han Xin had learned that Baron was a lot craftier than he had imagined him to be. Baron learned that he had grossly underestimated Han Xin to a certain degree. He knew that Han Xin would be a difficult opponent, but what he didn''t expect was the all out attack that Han Xin had launched. Yue Fei, Ban Chao, and Xu Da all learned that Han Xin was an extraordinary strategist, contrary to their beliefs that he was just an ordinary one. After the simulation ending in Han Xin''s victory, Baron called a team meeting with the three others. (BM) "Yue Fei, Ban Chao you saw just how well Han Xin handled me and Xu Da just now. What are your thoughts?" (BC) "The way he ordered that full scale retreat was downright flawless even if I saw everything that he ordered his men to do, I dont think I could replicate such a strategy." Ban Chao said with the utmost praise. (YF) "I dont know if you noticed, Ban Chao, but there was a couple of actions that Han Xin made that really caught my attention and had adverse effects after the initial impact it had on the battlefield. The retreat was indeed beautifully executed, but there are two other points that deserve even more praise." (BC) "Even more praise?" (YF) "Yes, the first one is that Han Xin and his crusaders had even managed to evade the scouts that Baron had sent out to gather information on Han Xin''s army. It isn''t easy to hide an army as well as he did, the hidden advantage here was that this denied Baron the necessary information needed for him to prepare for the next attack. Information like this could''ve been the deciding factor for the simulation this time around." (BC) "Now that you mention it, yea. I took a look at the map Baron and Han Xin received at the start of the simulation and took a look at where Han Xin stationed his army after the retreat. It is nearly impossible to pinpoint it on the map, Han Xin must''ve figured it out by just looking at the map. I dont think he ran into it by coincidence as he hadn''t visited that place before during the week of preparation." (BM) "That means he came up with this on the fly? He sure knows how to surprise people. What''s the other point you mentioned Yue Fei?" (YF) "The other point would be that he decided to only use heavy ballistae attacks before sending his men in. This served as an attack on two fronts, one was an attack on the physical walls, and the other was the attack on the morale of the men. The Fatimid Caliphate didn''t have much spirit left after the 24 hour demolition of their walls from afar, plus you guys didn''t have any weapon that could counter these ballistae attacks." (BM) "Precisely, this led to our army being effortlessly pushed back from the crusaders. I would also add another point that we should watch out for from Han Xin." (YF) "Did I miss something?" (BM) "It''s not that you missed something, it''s that Han Xin has excellent reasoning, and he is quite decisive these are easily mistaken for common sense. He could think of a plan on the spot, and execute it to perfection with just a few orders. All of these factors that we talked about are what makes an excellent strategist, and a great ally if we can manage to make him willingly work with us." (YF) "Wow, Han Xin is that incredible?" (BM) "Going by my estimates if we were to rank ourselves by who was the better strategist I''d say he is first, Yue Fei is second, and I would be third." (YF) "You''ve been through quite a few simulations with me already, what do you think of the gap between me and him is then?" (BM) "I''ve only seen him in action once so I can''t say for certain, but I''d say the gap is quite large." (BC) "What about the gap between you and Yue Fei?" (BM) "Id say the gap between me and Yue Fei is a sizable amount, but nothing as big as between Yue Fei and Han Xin. I rank Yue Fei as higher than me because Yue Fei has had a lot more battlefield experience as me." (YF) "You dont have to be so modest Baron, you already surpass me in terms of blueprints, and maybe even tactics pretty soon. Ever since you came to planet 4 your growth in terms of strategy has been astounding, even greater than mine when I first came here." (BM) "Right. Ban Chao get ready you will be the next one to face off against Han Xin. Remember though, you are great at defense, so just focus on your defense rather than attacking the enemy." (BC) "haha, I''ll try. You made out Han Xin to be such a perfect strategist, I don''t think id fare well against him." (BM) "Strategists shouldn''t think of how amazing or how tough to beat their opponents are, they should focus on finding ways to beat such amazing strategists." (BC) "You''re right, strategists should have more confidence, otherwise what is even the point of becoming one? Will you be an advisor to me for this next simulation?" (BM) "This time I''ll just be a spectator, you should have no trouble dragging out the battle. After all you are known for your defense." (BC) "Right, right" Ban Chao said as they all went back to where Han Xin was resting. The simulation between Ban Chao and Han Xin commenced. The setting was still random and they drew the Moro Rebellion map. This map was interesting as it was the United States pitted against a group of Philipinos that were called the Moro people. The history of this battle was interesting too, this conflict erupted because the Spanish imperialists ceded the Philipines to the United States and a lot of people weren''t happy. Particularly a group called the Moro, they routinely clashed with the US troops. What made them tough was that they fortified the mountain that they lived on, and launched berserker attacks constantly. Death meant nothing to these people of Moro if it meant resisting imperialism. This specific battle setting was the last battle between the people of Moro and the United States. It ended with US victory and a massacre of 500 of the Moro people. Just before the final battle though, the then president Theodore Roosevelt declared that all hostilities in the Philippines be ceased except for the people of Moro in 1902 4th of July. The US troops consisted of 25,000 men, and the Moro people had a few thousand soldiers, some were even women dressed in Male clothing. Though their numbers were vastly inferior, the Moro people faced death with open arms. The defending would be Han Xin and the attacking army would be Ban Chao''s. Though Ban Chao held the advantage here, it would not be an easy battle to win. Especially with someone as strategically powerful as Han Xin leading these fearless people. The preparation time for this map was one month. This map was the first time that Ban Chao and Han Xin had had a simulation on this map and therefore weren''t very familiar with anything related to this map. However Barom knew everything about this map. Han Xin would have to make a miracle happen if he wanted to win this simulation. This map can be considered similar to the battle of Thermopylae that Ban Chao and Baron had fought over. Both were heavily stacked on the sides of the attackers, both had the defenders have some advantage over the attackers. In this case, the people of Moro were more willing to die for their cause than the American troops, as well as more disciplined. The month of preparation time worked more for Han Xin than Ban Chao as he had more time to build more outposts, and generally increase the defense of the mountain he was defending. While Ban Chao could only sit around and come up with schemes. This type of guerilla warfare did not suit either of these strategists but what could they do? They just came up with strategy after strategy of ways to best their opponents and made as much preparations as they could. Drilling tactics and maneuvers into their soldiers to prepare them for what was about to go down. Quickly, the one month passed and the two sides began finding holes in each others defenses that they could exploit, and after a few days of waiting the defending Moro people made the first attack. The US army was split up into platoons of ten-ishmen each and they were tasked with going around the mountain attacking stray groups of the Moro people and reporting back to central camp if they spot an enemy outpost. The platoons were to report back to central camp regardless if they achieved anything or not at least once a week. This was because if an outpost was found they would send out all availible soldiers to destroy the outpost. Ban Chao had planned this as an extended battle that could last up to a few years. The Moro people, on the other hand, were told to hide in the shadows and attack the US army whenever they let their guard down. The other Moro people that were defending in the outposts were told to die fighting the invaders, and if they surrendered then they were considered cowards. This type of strategy from both sides worked on and off for both sides and the battlefield proceeded like this for 4 months. Both sides suffered hundreds in casualties, yet neither side was willing to back down. 27 Unexpected Outcome Ban Chao was on edge. During these four months of fighting, he hadn''t heard any news of Han Xin. This was a troubling matter, especiallybecause to know where the enemy was is considered a telltale sign of what their next actions would be. However, he hadn''t heard anything for four months and was beginning to get a bit antsy. The past four months, his men had steadily made progress up towards the mountain that the Moro people were defending. Yet, Han Xin hadn''t lead any of his men to counterattack this assault. Easy he planning on waiting it out? Or something a bit more unexpected? By this point Ban Chao''s men had captured close to the halfway point if the mountain. With each outpost and Moro people killed their side had gained more and more momentum. In war momentum could be said to be a huge deciding factor for victory. Some messengers arrived and told him that a few soldiers fell into a pit fall trap that was quite large and the soldiers that fell though were impaled by spears stuck into the ground. It was at this point that Ban Chao had glimpsed at a fraction of what Han Xin had planned out for him. With this incident he knew it was likely that Han Xin had prepared many traps for Ban Chao''s men. This was just one type of trap, Ban Chao dodgers not doubt for a second that Han Xin had more dangerous and more horrific surprises for him. This was just the beginning. Ban Chao halted his entire army and sent for all of them to regroup at a rendezvous point. He had decided to form a group of men that would scout the area for traps before the bulk of his army moved forward. Keeping your advantage in numbers spread out thinly was just asking for trouble, so he decided that everyone should stick together. The army moved around like this for the next few weeks until finally Ban Chao decided to go with the previous strategy of the army splitting up and being more independent. He decided now was the time to disband because they had not lost many people due to traps set up by Han Xin, and also because the area that each platoon had to cover was considerably lower now that they were three quarters up the mountain. During the first four months of battle, Ban Chao was concerned with hitting every outpost, but now he decided that they should leave a few outposts so as to confuse the enemy. Also, the point of having so many outposts was to make it time consuming for the enemy to break through. If a campaign was too time consuming there would be many disadvantages for the attacking army. First of all, morale was a big issue, if a campaign dragged on too long many would lose morale and some may even desert. Second of all,this extra time could be used by the defending army to make even more preparations. Lastly, Ban Chao only had so much food he could give to his soldiers. He started rationing them early, but even so, they ate through nearly half of their food storages. If they didn''t conclude the battle soon, then Ban Chao would have no way of beating Han Xin despite the massive advantages that were given to him. ----------------------------------------- On the defending side. Han Xin had not been idle these past 4 months. He had constructed a multitude of different traps and prepared many different ways of conducting guerilla warfare. The outposts he had constructed during the month of preparation had worked wonderfully to his plans. He needed the US troops to be occupied enough so that he could build something he thought would be a surefire win. After 4 months he had finally completed his secret blueprint. It was multiple rocketed gunpowder missiles. If the repeated crossbow could be likened to an ancient machine gun, then rocketed gunpowder could be considered an ancient rocket launcher. The way it worked was that a small circular box filled with gunpowder and a fuse attached to Hewas strapped to a long stick. The fuse would be lit then off it flew into the pointed destination and explode on impact. Just like a rocket launcher. (It''s what Mulan used to cause the avalanche that buried the hun army in Disney''s film Mulan) He had his men secretly steal the required amount of gunpowder he needed to make this many rocketed gunpowder guns. He had the perfect way of dealing with all of the attacking soldiers. He would lure all of them into one single outpost then retreat as many men as he could. After that he would launch all of the prepared into the outpost and all hell would let loose. Han Xin picked the best suited outpost that would maximize his chances of success. He chose to go with an outpost that was named Key.There were a few reasons that Han Xin chose outpost Key, Key was big enough that it would be able to hold all of Ban Chao''s forces. Plus it was built to be difficult to break into, and even more difficult to break out of. Han Xin had a few more outposts like this, but he thought Key was the best choice given that it would seem like any other outpost. Another issue Han Xin needed to address was that Ban Chao had started to skip a few outposts. So there was something he needed to do to make sure Ban Chao definitely atttacked outpost Key. He just needed something valuable enough to make sure that it happened. ----------------------------------- (M)"General Ban Chao sir." The messengers said and saluted to Ban Chao. (BC)"What is the matter?" (M)"We''ve just gotten word that Han Xin will be personally leading Outpost Key to make sure thatoutpost Key stays within the hands of the Moro people." (BC)"How peculiar, what could be so important there that it would warrant Han Xin to personally lead the garrison there? Could it be that they are in the process of preparing something there to use against us? Give me a map of the area surrounding outpost Key immediately." (M) "Yes sir." The messenger left promptly and returned soon after with a map in hand and gave it over to Ban Chao." (BC) "Let''s see here. The terrain around here makes it so that taking Key would be fairly difficult. And also the size of this outpost alone makes it possible for him to prepare something big enough to take us on. Hold on a minute, if we did manage to capture Key then the rest of the outposts will soon follow. This outpost is a very important strategic landmark, we must absolutely take this outpost. Sound the horn to inform everyone to regroup at our current location. We will strike at Key in one weeks time." (M) "Of course sir." The messenger left to sound the horn and within a few hours, all of the US troops were gathered around the main camp. Ban Chao gathered them all up so that he could tell them of his plan. (BC) "Alright everyone, I have gathered all of you here to tell you that our current objective is to take two outposts controlled by the Moro. Now, these two outposts are a bit bigger than the ones we have previously attacked so I have a plan to split up our forces and attack both at roughly the same time. Your platoon commanders already have the details, pack up camp and move into position." Ban Chao had decided to attack another outpost because he wanted to use that attack as a feint. He would have a group attack the other outpost and destroy it. Once he was sure that Han Xin received the news then he would march the other part of the split army to capture Key himself. He also knew of the possibility that Han Xin had sent in spies mixed into his men, so he didn''t dare to reveal too much information on his part. The first group that would attack the other outpost set out that very night, and two nights later they started laying siege to that outpost. Within two days, with the help of Ban Chao''s plan, that outpost fell and they moved onto their next target. Another outpost that was even further away than Key than the one they just conquered. Ban Chao thought that having this army keep moving in another direction would cause great confusion to Han Xin, and hopefully Han Xin would leave Key to stop the advance of the other army. However, Han Xin stayed where he was, and after a few more days of waiting, Ban Chao personally led his group to lay waste to outpost Key. Even though they were slowly pushing through, the resistance was fierce and they had lost quite a few hundred men. It was Han Xin''s tactics against Ban Chao''s tactics. After four days of intense fighting Ban Chao''s men finally broke through the wooden fortress that was Key, and they rounded up all the survivors. It was nearly night so they decided to camp within Key to rest for the night and leave to regroup after a good nights rest. This would prove to be a fatal mistake on Ban Chao''s part. During the course of the four day crossfire, Han Xin had sneaked out many of his men to the surrounding forests. This made the defence of Key to become weaker and weaker with each passing day, until finally Ban Chao and his men broke though on the fourth day.During the middle of the night when Ban Chao''s men were all resting and their guards were down, Han Xin launched over three quarters of his rocketed gunpowder stockpile right into the heart of Key. Within a mere few moments, the wooden outpost that was Key was completely engulfed in flames. It was only until now that Ban Chao had realized why he was able to break into Key as quickly as he did. It was because Han Xin let him. 28 Analysis Again With the surprise ambush and the following confusion it caused, Ban Chao''s army was in complete and utter disarray. Ban Chao and his officers tried to calm everyone down and restore order, but their voices were drowned out by a combination of screams and explosions. This was the situation for about an hour, then the walls of the outpost Key caught on fire and this only added fuel to the fire. There was no way out now, Ban Chao had lost far too many men during this night raid. Halfway through the night the attack stopped, and Ban Chao had realized just how much of a loss he had just taken. Close to two thirds of his army present were either dead or injured. He had tried to evacuate everyone, but every time he gathered up some of his men they were soon separated by the flames or there would be Moro attackers waiting in ambush when some of his men actually managed to leave the outpost. All of his efforts had gone to waste as he wasn''t able to do anything in the end. He still had another army that was sent away just before their attack on Key, but with how much casualties he had taken, morale would be basically non existent. He felt complete despair. No matter what he did now, he wouldn''t be able to fight Han Xin as well as he did before. Ban Chao felt extremely depressed, so much so that he surrendered the moment that he got a tally of his casualties during the night ambush. ----------------------- Baron, Yue Fei, and Xu Da was surprised to say the least. Not because Ban Chao had surrendered, but because Han Xin had managed to force Ban Chao into such fire straights within just a few hours. They called for another meeting with the four of them and they started to discuss their thoughts on how the previous simulation had gone. (BM)"So what did you guys think? You go firstam Chao, since you did face him." (BC)"He is a very patient man, and he seems to have exceptional perception of the battlefield. I was utterly no match for him. Even with all of the advantages that the attacking army received, I still lost in such a dishonourable way." (BM)"Don''t say that, Han Xin had manipulated you into attacking Key and dealt you a devastating blow." (BC)"That doesn''t make me feel any better, Baron." (YF)"Is there anything that you noticed while facing Han Xin?" (BC)"For the first 4 months, it seemed like Han Xin was completely non existent. He didn''t make any major moves, and he just let me take any outpost that I wanted. However, once he did launch his counterattack though, I had no way of retaliating." (BM)"It seems that this is a habit that Han Xin has." (BC)"Huh? what habit?" (BM)"He seems to like to save up his forces andlaunch a massive attack that his enemy can''t recover from." (XD)"You seem to be onto something Baron, he did the same thing with you and me during our battle at Jerusalem." (BM)"As a spectator there was something else I found interesting. He had managed to dig a network of spies and tunnels in just the first two months of battle. He then proceeded to steal a couple of your stores of weapons that you let go unnoticed." (BC)"Really? I had completely no idea." (BM)"It seems like Han Xin is also a master of espionage to even let things slip by unnoticed from Ban Chao. Yet another thing we must be aware of when facing Han Xin (YF)"That''s true, I might be able to use this to my advantage when I face him next." (BM)"Make sure to be careful, we still don''t know very much about how he thinks, he might not go all out this next time just to throw us off." (YF)"I understand, let''s hope that he doesn''t have another blueprint as scary as the exploding gunpowder that he just used against Ban Chao." (BM)"Even if he does you just need to be prepared for everything." (YF)"I can be prepared for the exploding gunpowder now that I know he has it. However, to be prepared for everything is just asking you much of me." (BM)"Just try your best, hold out for as long as you can." (YF)"I''ll try my best." The four of them nodded to each other and then Yue Fei went to challenge Han Xin. However, this time was different. Han Xin actually allowed Yue Fei to choose the setting himself instead of letting random luck decide it, the other three were stunned. Baron, Xu Da, and Ban Chao had only ever perceived Han Xin as a sort of cold and distant person. This behaviour that he exhibited to Yue Fei was the first they had ever seen this side of him. Han Xin was indeed a curious person. At first Yue Fei was hesitant to accept this offer, but after a little back and forth and a little persuasion from Baron, Yue Fei decided to choose the setting himself. Yue Fei consulted with Baron and after a little discussion they decided to pick the Battle of Thermopylae as the simulation setting. Yue Fei would naturally be the attacking side since he got to choose the settings. No matter what Baron thought of Han Xin, it was clear that Han Xin was very skilled in the art of warfare. Although the previous two simulations with Xu Da and Ban Chao told a lot about Han Xin, Baron didn''t have nearly enough to get a solid picture of this legend just yet.The simulation began just like it did with Baron and Xu Da. Both sides had a week to prepare, and after that period the war would begin. Regardless of who it was, nearly everyone on planet 4 had been in a simulation with the settings turned to the Battle of Thermopylae. This was because this setting was the preferred mode to train ones strategical prowess by being insanely outnumbered. This would allow the strategist on the defending side to greatly show their strategical brilliance in the heat of an extremely disadvantageous battle. Yue Fei was not one to underestimate people, he knew that if he showed the slightest bit of mercy, nothing good would come with it. It made sense to be ruthless on planet 4, after all showing weakness here was akin to letting your enemy walk all over you. Especially against an enemy as tough as Han Xin. Han Xin was a man of action, he spoke through the way he acted instead of talking and getting nowhere. He believed in karma, but he would actively seek out justice for those that needed it. Except, he did all this in the shadows. All of the good deeds he''s done on planet 4 has gone unnoticed. This is partially why Han Xin preferred to keep his life as quiet as it was now. He loved to dish out justice where justice was due, he could be considered one of the elders had he contributed anything to the community. The reason that Han Xin was friendlier towards Yue Fei was because right after Yue Fei had made it to the seat of an elder. Yue Fei used his position to help many others out of the kindness from his heart. Han Xin met an unfortunate end when he was back on Earth. He had risen to prominence too fast and attracted a lot of enemies, he was a brilliant strategist. So much so that many became envious of him, and through connections they managed to get Han Xin executed along with the entirety of Han Xin''s clan. This was not an uncommon situation in China''s history, but Han Xin had never thought that it would happen to him. During the preparation time, Han Xin had built quite a bit of weapons to fight back Yue Fei''s 450,000 strong army. While Yue Fei constructed his own secret little blueprint, this was a secret blueprint that Baron had gave to him to use against Han Xin. The only thing was he needed some time to build it, this would take about 3 weeks. Once the battle started Yue Fei''s attacking army did not do anything but stay still. This was the case until the third night when Yue Fei ordered his troops to let loose as many arrows as they could into the general direction of the enemy. Although this was a completely dark night, Han Xin had quickly reacted and ordered everybody to take shelter or hide behind their shields. Yue Fei had used over a million arrows, yet the only result he got was tens of enemy deaths and a few injured. This was not a great start. 29 Dealing With Spies A week had passed since the battle officially began and Yue Fei seemed to be only haphazardly committing his forces to look for other ways in, and to fight the soldiers in the narrow impasse. Han Xin knew that Yue Fei was up to something, but he didn''t know what. Therefore he could only prepare his soldiers for the worst. On Yue Fei''s side. (YF) "Lieutenant Bee, how are the preparations coming along?" Yue Fei asked Lieutenant Bee with anticipation. (LB) "It''s about a third of the way done, there seems to be no complications on our part. With this sort of progress we should be finished this project within two weeks." Lieutenant Bee said satisfaction. (YF) "That''s good to hear, what about the matter with finding another passage so that we can flank Han Xin''s army?" (LB) "We have only managed to find a few small passages so not too much progress there i''m afraid." (YF) "Ah, is that so? Not to worry then, there are others ways to win this war." (LB) "That is only natural for war." (YF) "Oh yes that reminds me, we need to start building another type of weapon." (LB) "Oh? What could this new weapon be?" (YF) "I''m sorry I can''t say. This has to stay a secret between me and engineer Robby." (LB) "I understand sir. Some things just need to be kept an absolute secret." (YF) "That is all, you are dismissed. I will go and have a chat with engineer Robby about how to construct this weapon now." (LB) "Yes, sir. As you wish." Lieutenant Bee promptly left the room so that engineer Robby could start to talk with Yue Fei about the new upcoming project that Robby would be spearheading. (ER) "You wanted to see me about something? If it''s about the current project then you don''t need to worry about anything as we are working as fast as we can." Engineer Robby said quickly. (YF) "It''s good that you guys are working fast, but the reason I gathered you here is for another reason." (ER) "Oh. Then what can I help you with general?" He said as he took a seat directly opposite of Yue Fei. (YF) "I won''t lie to you, there is a spy in our midst. I need to do something about this before we launch our true offensive in a few week''s time." (ER) "A spy? Do you have an idea as to who it might be?" (YF) "I''m not too sure." Yue Fei said with a straight face, but in reality he had a pretty big hunch it was his very own lieutenant Bee. However, a suspicion was nothing more than a suspicion. He needed to have concrete evidence. (ER) "Then may I ask what you plan on doing to find out? After all, information in a war is vital, if a spy can gather sufficient knowledge that could lead to a monumental disaster." (YF) "I know, what I have planned for you is that you will be bait for the suspected spy(s) and if they capture you for interrogation then we''ll know we definitely have a leaker in our presence. I have already informed a couple of my senior officials that you and I are to start a new project together, one that is even more important than the one we are currently building." (ER) "I see, that is a pretty sound plan, and you''re sure that the spies will try to kidnap me for interrogation?" (YF) "How could they not? Something even more secretive is about to be built, i''m confident that they won''t be able to resist such a temptation. I''m sorry but you might have to suffer for this. I chose you because you are one of the senior engineers here, so they will naturally believe that something incredibly powerful is going to be built." (ER)"As you command sir Yue Fei." (YF)"You should be prepared though. They may or may not use extremely inhumane tactics to make you talk. I need to know that you won''t cave in until we come and save you." (ER)"You can count on me." (YF)"Good, you are dismissed." Yue Fei said as he turned around to look through the schematics all over again. Yet he did not realize the sinister sneer on the face of engineer Robby as he quietly got up and walked away. Within days of his talk with Baron, engineer Robby didn''t turn up one morning. So there was a massive search for Robby as ordered by Yue Fei.There were also a series of interrogations of people who lived around where Robby''s sleeping quarters were. They Did everything they could to find Robby,but they had no luck. Yue Fei was no fool, he had Robby tailed by multiple men, and somehow all these men were knocked out just before the kidnapping. After waking up, these people had a mild concussion and couldn''t remember much of what happened. Yue Fei thought of all the possibilities in his mind. Could there be multiple spies hidden in my camp? Did the enemy somehow sneak multiple men into camp without the lookouts noticing? Yue Fei thought this matter through for a few days but he couldn''t find a suitable answer. Then a messenger came in to report some news. (M)"General Yue Fei, the matter with the missing engineer has resolved itself." The messenger said in a respectable voice which instantly got Yue Fei''s attention. (YF)"What do you mean resolved itself?" (M)"Engineer Robby has returned back to camp covered with many wounds." (YF)"Take me to him immediately." The two departed promptly then rushed over to the place where Robby was resting. Once they got there Yue Fei immediately examined the engineer. Many scars were on his body, it seemed like a few fingers were missing, and many stab wounds that stretched all over his body were clearly shown on his body. Engineer Robby woke up and looked sorrily at Yue Fei, and quietly started shedding tears. (ER) "They were really cruel to me. You said you would come to save me, but you didn''t. I had to escape their camp on my own." (YF) "Yes, there was a rather unfortunate turn of events right as you were captured. We noticed that after your disappearance the small passageway that leads to the enemy camp nearly tripled in guards." (ER) "But you still decided not to at least try?" (YF) "I''m sorry, other than that we didn''t have any other leads on you. No matter how big our hunch was, we can''t exactly risk thousands of men just for you alone." (ER) "You still could have at least tried." (YF) "Enough of this is, have you told the enemy my plans or haven''t you?" (ER) "...Rest assured, I haven''t told the enemy anything I didn''t want to." (YF) "That''s good to hear. You may rest now. I have some other business I have to deal with so i''ll leave first. Rest well. Messenger! Go get me lieutenant Bee, now." Now that Yue FEi and the messenger had left the room, engineer Robby was alone in the room. (ER) "Haha, Yue Fei you fool. There is more than 1 spy in your inner circle." Robby whispered to himself quietly and then smiled in satisfaction to how his infiltration into Yue Fei''s army had gone so seamlessly. The only thing that had to be sacrificed was possibly one of the other spies. Yue Fei had no idea that Robby the engineer was also one of the spies that he was trying to get rid of, he believed that there was only one spy that was in a high enough position to threaten his simulation. That person was lieutenant Bee, and with this kidnapping of Robby it cemented the idea that Bee was definitely a spy. This was because Yue Fei had only told lieutenant Bee and Robby about his plan to build something. Now he was certain that Bee was indeed a spy. Once he had met up with Lieutenant Bee Yue Fei immediately ordered for him to be sent away to do reconnaissance far away. There was no need to kill his second in command just because he was a spy. This would be a terrible course of action since this would only make his soldiers lose morale. Two and a half weeks after the initial battle start date was when Yue Fei decided to seriously commit his forces to taking the narrow passageway. He knew that realistically speaking,his chances of finding another passageway to flank his enemy was very low. Plus, he had almost finished making the blueprint that Baron had given to him. Yue Fei didn''t send all of his men wishing that he could overwhelm them with numbers. In this mode the defenders had the advantage in terrain and quality of troops while the attackers had the advantage in numbers. He had to use tactics to overcome this. Yue Fei had had plenty of experience with this mode he had a few tricks up his sleeve. 30 Two Secret Weapons Yue Fei had some of his best and most agile archers to climb the area surrounding y the passageway. He had ordered these guys to continuously pelt the enemy with arrows while the infantrymen met with the spartan defenders. There was another part of this plan though. Relying on just these archers wouldn''t be enough so he had to take up a bow and arrow himself. Yue Fei was no slouch when it came to archery, because he had practice it for many years. He had once been entered into an archery competition where he placed first by successfully hitting a target from 240 paces away nine times in a row. His bow hadn''t been used in a while simply because Yue Fei had been too busy with his elder duties. This way of warfare was not uncommon within the Chinese community, but none of them were both as good as Yue Fei in archery and tactics. Before the two armies met and clashed with each other, Yue Fei led approximately 500 archers to climb up onto a high ground so to have a better line of sight. They had just reached the summit when the two forces clashed and they started shooting immediately. The other archers weren''t very accurate and so was only able to hit the enemy soldiers occasionally, butYue Fei was able to shoot with almost machine levels of accuracy. The reason for this was because he had spent a pretty penny obtaining a pretty good bow blueprint from the community store. After a few years of practice he was able to exceed his past achievements. Another reason was because this bow was a lot heavier and harder to pull than normal bows, and also he liked to use arrows laced with poison. A poison that near instantly kills the one that it touches. However, since the enemy was wearing heavy armor and his arrows couldn''t pierce it he could only try to aim for the openings in their armour. This drastically reduced his effective in killing his enemies to about 2 or 3 for every 10 shots. Another benefit of using this poison arrow is that it sowed confusion and panic into the enemy ranks and therefore they would be less effective in battle. A few hours pass and Yue Fei and his archers managed to kill over 200 of the defending army while the infantrymen didn''t even manage to kill 100. The next two days would see a similar result, but surprisingly Han Xin did not retaliate in any way. Finally,three weeks had passed since the first day of battle and Yue Fei''s men had finished the secret blueprint. It was a very weak imitation of Greek Fire. In history there are many victims of greek fire, many being sailors. What made greek fire so terrifying is that it continued to burn for a long time, even if you were submerged in water. This flame is at least on par if not even more powerful than the ancient flamethrower that the Chinese invented. However, this was a pale imitation so it wouldn''t be nearly as powerful. Even so, this flame could still eat through many things therefore it is still horrifying to be pitted against. It took three weeks to make because of the incredible amount of fine tuning it needed in order for it to be used, and since this was Yue Fei''s first time using such a weapon he would naturally need a bit more time. The way he planned on using this flame was to put it in a container and is basically a flamethrower. The weapon blueprint that could utilize this flame was also given to him by Baron. Today was the day that they would use this flamethrower to completely decimate the opposition. They had produced 20 such weapons and they would be spread out covering multiple places. The attack of the day began and already apparent was Yue Fei''s dominance. The two greek fire users at the very front was making a lot of progress. These two were instructed to not use too much of this weapon because the corridor that they were fighting on was very narrow. If they sprayed too much of the flames, then they wouldn''t be able to advance any further. They were quite successful until they reached the middle of the pass where they were met with thousands of repeating crossbowman, and multiple polybolos''. The polybolos was a greek invention that was very adept at killing the enemy. If the repeating crossbow could be compared to a machine gun then the polybolos could be compared to the king of the machine guns, the gatling gun. Everything after that moment went south for Yue Fei''s army. The flames couldn''t reach these enemies with the repeating crossbow, and polybolos. However, the enemy could reach them. The place was a wreck thousands of Yue Fei''s army was slaughtered every few minutes. The retreat order had been issued quite quickly early on, but with the amount of chaos that followed many of the men wasn''t aware of the order for retreat and instead rushed to their deaths. What made it even worse was that along the retreat path there were enemies lying in wait to ambush them. Since the passageway was narrow all of Yue Fei''s men were bottlenecked into a small place. Therefore, this made it extremely easy forHan Xin''s men to swiftly deal with many of the retreating enemy. By the end of the day, over 250,000 of Yue Fei''s men had fallen. One day. One very well planned out maneuver. Had crippled Yue Fei''s side. Yue Fei forfeited the simulation. Yue Fei had no idea what had just happened. Never had he been so outplayed by his opponents. Granted he hasn''t faced any real old demons, but he though that he would be able to do something with Baron''s blueprints. He felt depressed. Just as he got out of the simulation the others were in the room too. All five of them looked at each other and an uneasy silence filled the room. Han Xin was the first to speak. (HX) "You alright Yue Fei?" (YF) "Yea.....yea. I''m just no match for you." (HX) "Oh that''s not true. The biggest reason that I had bested you wasn''t because of my two secret weapons, nor was it that I had better tactics than you. In this case it''s because I had the necessary information to plan ahead of time." (YF) "What? But I got rid of lieutenant Bee." (HX) "I put more than just 1 spy in your inner circle. My other informant was your engineer Robby." (YF) "Wait, but he came back to us all beaten up and bruised." (BM) "Allow me to explain this to him elder Han Xin." (HX) "Go for it." (BM) "Deception and lies are everything to a spy. If they can convince you that they are trustworthy you are more likely to tell them your plans. After Robby''s recovery he immediately went back to working on the blueprints I gave you right?" Baron said as Han Xin perked up his ears. (YF) "I believe so, why?" (BM) "That''s because Robby was trying to get enough information on these weapons, their capabilities, how you plan on using them, and other important plans. Once he had this he went to go inform another spy, then that spy informed Han Xin, and Han Xin prepared a strategy to counter yours." (YF) "No way." (HX) "Don''t feel so bad about yourself. Isn''t this your first time dealing with someone who knows how to expertly use spies? Considering that you did fairly well." (BM) "One more thing, Robby escaped your camp by tricking the people who was tailing him, went back to Han Xin, informed him of everything and waited for you to rescue him. Since it didn''t seem like you were coming to get him, Han Xin had to change his original plan and Robby had to be lashed and all that before he was delivered back to your camp. Pretty genius if you ask me. Brutal, but genius nonetheless." (HX) "So Baron, you were the one that gave Yue Fei that flamethrower blueprint?" (BM) "Yes actually, is there something you want?" (HX) "No, no. I''m just curious as to how you got such a terrifying blueprint despite being here for a very brief amount of time." (BM) "Oh that''s because i''ve researched a lot into weapons and warfare back when I was still alive. That benefitted me a lot when I came to this planet 4. I see you''ve got the blueprint for the repeating crossbow, I have one too. I''m just wondering how you got the blueprint for the polybolos, that is a magnificent contraption elder Han Xin." (HX) "I received this blueprint when I entered a tournament a while back at the Greek community I believe. This blueprint was the prize for the winner of that tournament." (BM) "That''s pretty interesting, might I ask as to how much blueprints you have?" (HX) "You are still fairly new here so I don''t blame you, but the way we value a strategist is not just by their number of blueprints. After all, I could just purchase a million common sword blueprints, but they are fairly useless in an actual battlefield since most of your soldiers will already have weapons. The way we do it here is we rank people by their most prized blueprint. My most prized blueprint would have to be either the repeating crossbow, the polybolos, or the exploding gunpowder that I used against Ban Chao. These three are all fairly rare." (BM) "That''s quite impressive, what do you think about my flamethrower then?" (HX) "Going by my experience very few people have it, so I believe it is slightly rarer than the three of my greatest blueprints." (BM) "I see. It''s time. Lets have a duel shall we elder Han Xin?" 31 Siege of Baghdad The two put on the simulation helmets and put the setting as random. After a moment of silence the system announced the map that these two would be fighting in. It was to be the Siege of Baghdad in 1258. This war was a particularly devastating one for the Islamic community as a whole. This war was between the Mongolian army and the Abassid Caliphate with the latter being the defenders. In history it took only 12 days for the Mongolians to win the war and another week after that to slaughter over 2 million people. This one defeat ended the Islamic golden age in 1258. It was decided that Baron would be on the defending Caliphate side while Han Xin would be on the attacking Mongolian side. The advantages of both sides were clear. Baron was in one of the technology most advanced cities for its time along with over 50,000 soldiers while Han Xin had a stronger army from multiple countries which totalled almost 100,000 and better starting equipment. The preparation time was ample enough for both sides to prepare everything they needed at about 3 months. Almost simultaneously the first thing that both sides did was to begin building their prized blueprints followed by trying to rally even more troops than what they had. Baron and his trusty officers ventured out into the nearby Islamic cities to request more soldiers after he had his citizens begin building all sorts of gunpowder weapons. The talks between Baron and the other representatives went back and forth for a couple of days before Baron finally managed to wear them down. The other cities guaranteed Baron close to 30,000 soldiers, and they would arrive within a few weeks time. Baron wasn''t happy that these representatives were only giving him this less men, but he did all he could to bolster his army. Now he just had to wait for them to arrive. Baron returned to the city he was supposed to defend and began supervising the construction of his blueprints. A few days pass when suddenly a piece of news was delivered to him by a messenger. (M) "Sir, I have news for you." (BM) "What is it? I''m quite busy, if it''s not too important then tell one of the officers." (M) "Sorry sir, this is of the utmost importance." (BM) "Speak then." (M) "The enemy commander Han Xin has negotiated a deal with the surrounding cities. They have promised to not send you any soldiers in order to guarantee themselves safety." (BM) "Those bastards. What should I do now?" Baron was utterly dumbstruck by the news he had just received. However, panicking now wouldn''t achieve anything. He had to take action and he had to do it quick. There were a few options that he could follow through on but none of them were without their downsides. He chose to stay quiet about this matter until only two months of preparation time remained. Then he made his move. It was forbidden to engage the other strategist during the preparation period, but attacking surrounding cities were not. Baron used his newly built weapons and greatly revitalized army to attack the three nearest cities that had promised him soldiers. Within another month Baron had took over all three, this one month was detrimental to the war between Han Xin and Baron. Now that Baron had an additional three cities he could build weapons even faster than before, and he now had close to a standing army of almost 120,000. The next month would see Baron''s four cities produce an unprecedented amount of artillery all of which was delivered to the main city. Han Xin hadn''t spent his time idly either. After negotiating a deal with the three surrounding cities of Baghdad, he had spent most of his time back in Mongolia trying to rally more soldiers for his cause. As such, he didn''t hear about Baron swiftly crushing the said cities and now controlled those cities until he was on his way back to the main army. With only two weeks left before the official start of the war there was no way he could retake those cities. Plus it would be a waste of time, resources, and men. He would rather train his army so they could fight more cohesively together. The last two weeks were quiet as both sides geared up to start battle, and producing as much of their blueprints as they could. Finally the battle would begin with 120,000 men on the defending Baghdad side against 150,000 on the Mongolian side. No matter what happens, this would be an epic war indeed. As the attacking army, Han Xin launched the first wave of attacks by continuously pelting the soldiers with heavy objects from afar. Baron reacted by doing the same, but from inside the city. This continued on until about a quarter of both sides'' artillery being wiped out. By that time Han Xin had ordered his men equipped with repeating crossbows and a myriad of other weapons to have a full on clash with Baron''s men. This lasted for several more hours until the darkness of night fell upon them and Han Xin ordered the retreat. The total losses for both sides had stayed constant throughout the entire day. With both sides long about 3,000 soldiers each. The next day would follow suit and another 4,000 would be lost from each side. The third day was different as Han Xin truly began trying to take Baghdad seriously. From what had happened the two days prior, Han Xin developed a new strategy. While fighting a war of attrition would definitely yield him the highest chances of success, there was no honour to be had in playing the numbers game. High rewards required high risk, and what better way to do that than to risk almost everything he had into destroying the city in one day? He was no fool, this wasn''t the real reason he was willing to commit almost all of his forces to a single offensive. This was merely the feint to an even bigger plot. Han Xin would throw almost all of his forces against the city, then he would take a small portion of his army to retake the three other cities. One goal of this plan was to deny Baghdad anymore sid from these three cities, another was to confiscate and then use Baron''s own weapon against him. However, even this was a feint to an even grander scheme. He woulduse this information twist it a bit then have one of his own messengers deliver some fake news to Baron. The plan started off well for Han Xin, the majority of the army he had sent to continue fighting night and day against Baghdad. Han Xin continued on to the other three cities and within 5 days he had reconquered all three of them. The reason he retook them so easily was because most of the fighting soldiers were sent to Baghdad as ordered by Baron, therefore retaking the city was fairly swift. They quickly took the confiscated weapons that the workers there had been working on and quickly set off back to siege Baghdad once again. By the time they had returned, their soldiers had been non stop attacking Baghdad for over a week straight. Han Xin quickly ordered the sound for retreat shortly after he returned. He had these men take a much needed one day break while he had another group of me continue laying siege to the city. By the next morning the tally for both sides were still in favour of Han Xin but he had lost a lot of men during the time he wasn''t here. This along with Baron''s excellent leadership lead to the two sides'' forces becoming nearly equal at 95,000 for Han Xin and 90,000 for Baron. Keep in mind that at the beginning of this war they had a nearly 30,000 man difference, and now that has been advantage had lessened to only 5,000. Baron was no fool either, he had guessed that Han Xin would try to retake the other three cities so he had purposely taken out almost all of their garrison out, as well as leaving a little surprise for Han Xin to find. What he didn''t expect was that there was even more that Han Xin was trying to do. Then a messenger arrived. (M) "General Baron, we have received word that Han Xin and their men have taken over the other cities and are planning on staying over there for the time being" (BM) "Is that so? I''ll take that into consideration. You are dismissed." Baron knew something was wrong. Why would Han Xin risk staying over there when the cities were already conquered. Still, he thought nothing of it and continued on his day as usual. Not paying any mind to the message he had just received. In actuality he had heard that the other three cities were being targeted by Han Xin a few days ago, sure he may have relied quite a bit on those cities before, but now that Baghdad was surrounded there was no point in having the other cities around since the goods they manufacture couldn''t even get to Baghdad. The siege started again for the day but Baron noticed something different about the Mongolian army today. They were lined up between multiple cannons that appeared to be the same ones as Baron was using. The first thing he did was to order the messenger that told him Han Xin was still at the other cities to be executed. Then he waited for the enemy to find out the surprise that he left them. (BM) "You''re planning on using my own weapons against me? Dream on Han Xin." 32 Siege of Baghdad part 2 Han Xin was pretty impressed himself. He had not only retook three cities within a week, but he had also gotten weapons of which his enemy had used their resources for. This was a mighty win for him in his mind, and now he was going to use the weapons he had captured and use them against Baron. This was a nice twist to an otherwise boring map Han Xin thought to himself. The time finally came for him to use these weapons so he had his men line up the all of the cannons around the city and ordered them to be shot at the same time. However, when the cannons were supposed to fire shells at the city of Baghdad the only thing they did was explode where they stood. Many of the soldiers that was standing within a few meters of the cannon were instantly killed or mortally wounded. This surprise that Baron had left for Han Xin had quite a huge impact on both sides. On Han Xin''s side, the reaction after the explosion was one of pure mortification. After all no one was expecting such a result, this lead to a decrease in the army. While on the other side, Baron''s men had their otherwise grim atmosphere lighten up immediately. The men at the front began to chuckle then spread the story of what happened, and soon half the army was heartily laughing at the misfortune that befell their enemy. Once Baron saw this scene he felt quite relieved that his men had even more morale to boost off of than their previous day''s victories. Baron had estimated that the exploding cannons would incapacitate close to 1,000 men and deal a number on their morale. Baron had chosen to carry out his plan not to kill however many it managed to kill, but rather because he was testing his inner circle of lieutenants, engineers, officers and others to see if any of them would inform Han Xin of his little exploding canon surprise. Therefore since Han Xin had used them today then that meant he didn''t have a sph in his innercircle. He also knew that Han Xin wouldn''t purposely use this trick to trick Baron because the loss in men and morale outweighed the use of everything else. No matter what, now Baron could rest easy knowing there were no spies around him. After that little incident the two armies clashed again for the next few months with neither side gaining any advantage in terms of number. Now that the attacking Mongolian side had Han Xin to command them once again both sides entered a war of attrition with both sides not gaining much of an advantage. They both teetered at around the same number of soldiers with both sides men constantly decreasing. After a few months of lacklustre fighting on both sides Han Xin revealed his next big move. Han Xin had been preparing for this day for a long time. There was another reason that he went back to Mongolia for such a long time. He actually had one more secret blueprint that he hadn''t mentioned to the others. Han Xin had actually started this blueprint when he had a simulation against the other three as well but didn''t show them this since he was able to best them without needing it. However, the situation was different with Baron. Baron was a bit of a trickier strategist than even Yue Fei, not necessarily better than Yue Fei just trickier. This blueprint was always built in some obscure location so that not even the spectators were able to see what it was. This special weapon was none other than the Mark 1 tank that was the predecessor to all modern tanks. Through some miraculous luck, Han Xin had managed to get his hands on this fairly modern technology''s blueprint. This was his absolute last resort weapon. Even in the entire Chinese community this blueprint could be considered quite modern and was an object of envy. Yue Fei, Xu Da, and Ban Chao were all completely flabbergasted at the sight of a tank, because this was the first time that they had witnessed such an impressive blueprint come to life. ---------------------- (M) "General Baron sir" the messenger said to get Baron''s attention. (BM) "What is it? Hurry up and speak so I can get back to planning for the enemy''s attack." (M) "The enemy has brought forth a new type of weapon, I''m not too sure what it is but it is a large mobile metal shielded thing that moves along two belts. (BM) ".....Did Han Xin just bring a tank. into. the. 13th. century? Wow I''ve got to see this. Lead the way messenger." The two walked to a vantage point overseeing much of the city and outside the walls. Indeed as the messenger had said there were quite a few tanks of the simplistic design. The Mark 1 tank was the earliest tank design used by the British in World War 1 in order to better fight trench warfare tactics used by many nations at the time. There were many flaws with this machine, but the big drawback was that it did not work when there was mud around. Baron was definitely surprised that Ham Xin had something like the Mark 1 tank in his arsenal, but not so much that he couldn''t think properly. Since the Mark 1 tank could be defeated with some mud, Baron had a way to deal with this obstacle that he had encountered. Here''s a little lesson in Baghdad''s geography. There is a decent sized river running right through it. What do you get when you mix water and dirt? Mud, you get mud. The only thing stopping Baron was how he was going to move such a large amount of water onto the ground around Baghdad. This plan would have to be given more thought later as he had to repel them first. He ordered the messenger to spread the word that allweapons were to be aimed at the advancing tank army. From Baron''s estimate the enemy had about 100 of these tanks, but it was possible that they were hiding even more. Therefore, it was in his best interest to destroy as much as possible before the others, if any, did come. With the strategy of only targeting the tanks, Baron''s army was able to fend off the enemy for the time being. During these few days of fighting the tally for both sides were about 55,000 each give or take a thousand. However, the emergence of tanks signalled a change in this dynamic. The simulation time was nearing November and things were not looking good for Baron. Although he was able to repel the tanks, there came a huge cost. That cost was the amount of men needed to destroy just a single tank. However, Baron was unwilling to yield to Han Xin like Yue Fei, Xu Da, and Ban Chao before him. He would fight to the bitter end if he had to, it helped that the enemy was running low on provisions. The longer he was able to delay, the larger his chances of success were. Another week or two passed until Baron''s worst nightmare came to pass, Han Xin did indeed have more tanks in reserve. Han Xin showed up with close to 1,000 new tanks ready for battle. This no doubt made the morale of Baron''s men plummet to a new low. By this point the first 100 tanks that showed up were almost all destroyed, this gave them some hope. Seeing 1,000 new tanks come into the fray gave all of Baron''s men depression. Baron had been working on transporting water from the river Tigris that ran through Baghdad by means such as irrigation, or diverting parts of the river to new paths. Sadly, Han Xin knew all to well this weakness of his prized tank. So every time Baron sent some men to do these tasks, they would immediately be captured by Han Xin''s men and they were never to be heard from again. November 1st was about when Han Xin used his full fleet of about 1,000 tanks to utterly crush the city of Baghdad. Although Baron was an excellent strategist, he could only have minimal effect when going against this vastly superior weaponry. Baron managed to hold out for 1 day. During this one day he had suffered numerous casualties on his side. It was unlikely that they were going to be able to hold out one more day. They could only pray for a miracle since Baron still wasn''t ready to yield to Han Xin. Defeat was imminent, they had one day if even that long. Their morale was so low, no matter what speech Baron gave them it would have virtually no effect. They were on their last leg. These soldiers had basically all given up and so started getting drunk and having parties. Although Baron tried to stop them he knew that defeat was just a day away so he didn''t pursue the matter for very long. Then later that night when everybody was sufficiently drunk, a miracle occurred. It started raining heavily, so heavily it immediately managed to sober up Baron immediately. This was the chance he needed. This was the miracle he was hoping for. This was the turning point of the war. Then Baron looked towards his men only to see a bunch of men drunk off their asses dancing in the pouring rain. (BM) "Now that all of my men are drunk, even with this miracle of rain I won''t be able to do anything against Han Xin. I guess i''ll just try to issue a draw tomorrow." That''s exactly what Baron did, and Han Xin actually approved of the decision of a draw and that''s how their simulation ended. Both sides had their reasons for wanting a draw. Baron''s men were basically at their wits endnot to mention drunk. Han Xin''s men were getting restless because the provisions got smaller and smaller everyday, and although they were about to win the war, many soldiers started to desert. At first it was only a few, but after a while it became tens of people in one night, and plus with the heavy rain that occurred that last night, Han Xin would not be able to mobilize any of his tanks due to the mud that formed overnight. This showed another weakness of Han Xin, logistics and the many finer details of keeping an army. Which Baron noted for later. When the two of them came out, Yue Fei, Xu Da, and Ban Chao all came to cheer for Baron. After all, Baron had managed to achieve a draw against Han Xin, which none of them had managed to accomplish. 33 Convincing Han Xin (HX) "Wow. You are quite an interesting opponent, Baron. I dont think I''ve had that much trouble, or enjoyment out of a simulation with anybody in a long time." Han Xin said with a hearty smile. (BM) "Well I''m glad to hear you say that. Honestly though, a draw was thebest I could hope for against an opponent like yourself." Baron respectfully replied. (HX) "Haha, you are being too modest. The way I see it is that you are still growing in terms of being a strategist. For someone like me I have, for the most part, reached a bottleneck. The only way for me to get stronger is by acquiring better, and more advanced blueprints for technology." (YF) "Oh yes I''ve been meaning to ask you about that. How much silver coins do you have?" Yue Fei asked out of curiosity. (HX) "Well I''m saving up for some blueprints I''ve been eyeing. I''ve got close to 90,000 silver coins." The moment the 90,000 left Han Xin''s mouth everybody had a stunned look on their faces. After all, they had only made a few thousand silver coins by selling multiple blueprints, which was considered a fair amount. Just how long did Han Xin have to save up to have 90,000 coins? (BC) "Brother Han Xin, surely you are joking with us? 90,000 is quite a huge sum even to most of the elders." (HX) "Yes I suppose that 90,000 is quite an unbelievable sum to have saved up, but I assure you that that is how much I have saved up for for over 500 years." (BC) "I''ve been saving up for about half as long as you have, yet I only had a few thousand up until I met with Baron. Pray tell how did you manage to amass such a fortune." (HX) "Well, I just travel to other communities and partake in their tournaments. I''m a fairly strong strategist and have therefore made quite a name for myself outside of the Chinese community. Though I''m sort of well known I pale in comparison to some of the true monsters out there. You would not believe some of the backing these people have." (BM) "Let''s discuss this later, I feel it is more appropriate to talk about the simulation just now." (HX) "That''s also true, let''s talk about the simulation while it is still fresh in our minds." (BC) "Hey brother Han Xin, what do you think of Baron? Pretty good for an amateur right?" (HX) "I''ve noticed a bit of a pattern with you Baron. Although your tactics and military knowhow are amazing. Your experience is sorely lacking compared to even some of the regulars at the Chinese community." (BM) "Yes, that is one of my biggest weaknesses at the moment. I died when I was only 20 so there wasn''t a lot of time for me to actually experience war." (HX) "Only 20 years old? Well then I must say, you have an incredible wealth of military strategy for someone that died at only age 20." (BM) "Thanks for the kind words. So, you don''t have anymore blueprints up your sleeve do you?" (HX) "Not any that are worth mentioning, i''ve shown you four all I have." This time Han Xin was truthful in his words, because last time he had purposely left out that he had a tank blueprint. (BM) "Is there anything you think I could''ve done better brother Han Xin?" (HX) "Let''s talk about what you did in chronological order. First of all, you turned your defending army around and targeted the three other armies. You lost close to 10,000 soldiers from that little campaign, but you did manage to recruit 70,000 men from those cities to fight for you. That is a very considerable win for you." (BM) "Well I had to, you convinced those cities to not send me any aid. So the only thing I could do was to force them into it." (HX) "Your response was very valid, and you even managed to have those cities help you to produce some weapons.That''s an outstanding move. The next move you made was to tamper with the cannons that you were building so that when I used them, they would explode right next to my soldiers. That is quite a sneaky move, and I commend you for that. However everything after that point disappoints me a little. You knew the weakness of my tanks, yet you couldn''t exploit that weakness." (BM) "That''s true. You seemed to know everywhere where I would send my men to divert the Tigris river to the area surrounding Baghdad. In the end I had to rely on pure chance to come out with a draw." (HX) "Exactly, in war relying on miracles won''t get you very far. You have to create those miracles yourself. You shouldn''t rely on dumb chance to win wars." (BM) "Thanks for the advice, elder Han Xin. Now that we''re all sort of familiar with each other, we need to get down to business. Han Xin. Everyone here except you are committed to the starting of our faction. I need to know if you are willing to not just be a member, but also one of our core members in the future." (HX) "I''m not completely sold on joining you guys just yet. Don''t forget that the only reason I am even considering joining you four is because of Yue Fei. That being said, it''s not like i''m unwilling to join. You just need to convince me to be one." The four of them talked with each other and it was decided that Baron would be the one to try and convince Han Xin to join them. Although at first Yue Fei seemed like the obvious choice it was decided that Baron would be the one because Baron seemed to understand Han Xin the most. (BM) "Alright Han Xin, come this way. Let''s have a nice little chat shall we?" The two of them entered another room where they sat down on furnishings and began the talk that would decide Han Xin''s fate as well as Baron''s faction''s fate. (BM) "What can we do to convince you to join us?" (HX) "That''s a tough question, but like others i''d want to know my benefits first." (BM) "Once we become an official faction then we will start to recruit more people. I haven''t thought of everything yet, but i''d like to have our own little auction house that is only accessible to our faction members. As for the requirements to join, I won''t set any. Maybe just a small joining fee." (HX) "Wait, wait, wait. How much blueprints do you have? The minimum blueprints an auction house should have is 100, and that''s being generous." (BM) "I''m assuming you haven''t heard, but me and the gang just sold a few hundred blueprints before we met you. That''s how we were able to afford this place." (HX) "Oh, I just assumed you had Yue Fei pay for everything. What you just said makes a lot more sense. However, I need some instant benefits if you want me to join you." (BM) "Of course of course, I was just getting to that point. For my core member, I will gift to them a really advanced blueprint of their choosing. I haven''t told the others of this, so you get to choose first. If you do decide to join us of course." (HX) "You have more than one blueprint that''s even more modern than my Mark 1 tank?" (BM) "Yes, how do you think we had that many blueprints to sell? I was the one that drew all of them up." (HX) "I don''t know..... which blueprints do you have that resembles my tank?" (BM) "You seem quite fond of tanks. I can make a blueprint of quite a few tanks, but given how complex the system of a tank is it would take me quite a while to draw it up." (HX) "How did you even acquire the blueprints for tanks? Tanks are super expensive here on planet four given that it is a relatively new invention." (BM) "Back when I was alive, I spent countless years obsessing over all types of weapons both ancient and modern all around the globe. This is how I am able to draw out the schematics to form the blueprints. Since Ive only known you for a little while, I can''t exactly give you my most advanced tank can I? Instead, i''ll give you the blueprint for the Mark 7 tank. This one doesn''t have a rhomboid type body like the Mark 1 does. It''s got a whole host of advantages that makes it vastly superior to your Mark 1 tank." (HX) "You''re willing to give such a precious blueprint to me?" (BM) "Yes, but it comes with a condition. You have to become an elder and officially announce your unyielding support for my new faction." (HX) "That''s quite a steep price." Han Xin started to sweat. This was because an elder announcing their unyielding support for any faction meant that if he were to betray the faction, they would be shunned and blacklisted from every other faction, and possibly even kicked out from the Chinese community. (BM) "Do we have a deal Han Xin?" (HX) "I......I don''t think I can object." Han Xin had finally yielded to Baron. 34 The Plan for the Future Han Xin and Baron finished up their conversation with talks of the trade then returned back to the previous room to inform the others. (BM) "Let''s welcome our newest core member Han Xin." Baron said right after entering the room. (BC) "Glad to have you here." (YF) "Its excellent news to have you join us." The five of them chatted for a bit before officially getting down to official faction type business. (BM) "Setting goals for the future of our faction is a must. However, we all have different goals we want to achieve. Let''s talk about the general direction our faction is headed to, then get more specific." (HX) "Yes that''s a good idea. Once I commit to something, it is not in my nature to do so haphazardly. First things first, we need to discuss the faction selection tournament." (BM) "The four of us have actually discussed thisbefore you came here, but perhaps you could shed a bit more light on the matter." (YF) "That''s correct, we have decided to go with the air portion of the tournament." (HX) "Oh? Why haven''t you guys decided to go for the other two battlefields?" (YF) "I must admit that I left some information out when I spoke to Baron earlier. The reason I prefer to go with the air portion this time around is because there are a few especially powerful opponents joining the land and sea battles this time." (HX) "How powerful are we talking here? Are they better than me? I dont pay attention to these kinds of news since it doesn''t affect me in any way" (YF) "Among those participating the most likely to win the land portion are the Eternal Dragon faction with the newly founded Commie faction as the biggest dark horse. Then for the sea portion the likeliest to win is the Imperial Dragon faction. Likewise the biggest dark horse would be the Steel Junk faction." (BM) "What about the air portion of the tournament?" (YF) "....This is where things get tricky. Somehow the Vesper faction found out about the supposed alliance between our group and Madam Zheng''s. They have formed a subsidiary faction and invited some of the best aviation strategists to participate. Specifically against us." (BM) "This Vesper group sure is troublesome. Do you think they will be a problem Yue Fei?" (YF) "Since this is a regulated simulation there are rules set in place so that''s good for us. However, these 5 strategists that we are going to have to go against are all people who are revered in the aviation simulations. Aviation warfare is all they do, compared to us who haven''t even practised much. I''d say we need quite a bit of work to be able to defeat them." (HX) "Enough if this topic for now. What are we going to do after we form a faction?" (BM) "Recruiting members to our faction should be our top priority. Since I''m not too familiar with the situation here can you elaborate for us Yue Fei?" (YF) "Yes, I was just about to bring up this topic. The gist of it is that like us before meeting you, Baron, the majority of strategists dont align themselves with any faction. This is because the terms and conditions of each faction is fairly harsh, and the monthly pay is terrible. It just simply isn''t worth it for many people. Not to mention the incredibly high bars most people set to act as preliminaries." (BM) "Well, I believe that we should have as much faction members as possible. So why dont we lower the bar, lower the requirements and increase the benefits." (YF) "Saying that is easy, but It''s not that easy to actually do that. For most factions paying their members is the highest cost of operating. Unless you have deep pockets, then you are unlikely to be able to run a large faction for very long." (BM) "The benefits I''m talking about will be the auction store that we will be starting within the faction." (BC) "Then what about the pay? Will you keep it as is?" (BM) "I haven''t decided yet." (HX) "Wait who will be the faction leader?" (BM) "It should be either you or Yue Fei." (XD) "Why not you?" (BM) "A strategist that only came to planet 4 a couple of months ago leading the winning team to win the tournament draws way too much attention onto me. Instead I believe someone who already has been here for a couple hundred years here will be seen as normal. Plus you two have more weight in your words than I do when you speak. After all, the Chinese community sees both of you as more powerful than me so more people will listen to you." (HX) "Interesting, what do you think Yue Fei?" (YF) "I dont know, how about a joint leadership?" (BM) "That''s even better in my opinion. You should know though, I''ll be handling most of the businesses of the faction." (HX) "Suit yourself kiddo. Those things aren''t exactly up my alley. Anything else that you have planned for Baron? You are the leader of us even if not in name." (BM) "I''m thinking after we establish a stable base here at the Chinese community should we venture out into the outside world to participate in tournaments." (BC) "Sounds good to me." (XD) "Sure just dont sick me with any more geese please." (YF) "I have no complaints." (HX) "I''ll follow you since you are a treasure trove of blueprints." (BM) "Alright then its decided. Anyone have any idea as to what name we should have for our faction?" (HX) "Modern Menace?" (BC) "Ooh, ooh how about Fearless?" (YF) "Righteousness?" (XD) "I''m fine with whatever." (BM) "How about...Under 1 Banner? Everyone stayed silent thinking about what Baron had just suggested and sat there. After awhile, they decided to go with Baron''s idea as it had the deepest meaning to all of them. That''s how they concluded their first official meeting as a faction. (BM) "How do you think we should prepare for the faction selection tournament?" (BC) "That tournament is still decades away. I believe increasing our funds is the smartest way to go." (YF) "While the tournament is decades away should we still not prepare? The others have started training long before us. We are already behind if you ask me." (HX) "Both points are valid, however, preparation should come before trying to strike it rich. Besides, my funds are now this faction''s funds. We should be able to continue on training for quite a while before we have to think about money again." (XD) "I second Han Xin." Xu Da spoke calmly. (BM) "I too believe that Han Xin and Yue Fei speaks the most reason. How should we go about training then? Have you guys ever tried air battles before?" (BC) "No, never." Ban Chao said rather embarrassingly. (XD) "A few times, but I just can''t seem to grasp how air battles work." Xu Da admitted. (HX) "I''ve tried a few, but I can only be considered average in the Chinese community." Han Xin shaked his head and sighed. (YF) "I''ve actually done quite a bit of air battles. Though I''m no master in the Chinese community I''d say I''m at least above average." (BM) "I can''t say I''m too well versed in technical experience within the sky. But my knowledge and tactics should be advanced enough to give us a bit of an edge compared to the others. Just like with Yue Fei on land, I need to experiment with many air battles before I can confidently say where I rank compared to you guys Maybe even some exercises or drills involving planes and helicopters and the rest would reveal just where my level of competency in the air is at." (HX) "I believe the best course of action we can take right now is to try our best to practice air battles. It''s good that at least Baron and Yue Fei have an understanding of these kinds of battles. Then we can try to enter into a few air battle related tournaments to see how we compare to others." (BM) "That''s a great idea. Yue fei do you know of any air battles where we can practice the most. Just like the Battle of Thermopylae on land?" (YF) "I think there are quite a few, but unfortunately none of the air battles can compare to the battle of Thermopylae on land in that regard." (BM) "What about that air battle in 1918 where less than 100 German jets engaged over a combined force of over 2,000 Allied bombers and fighters?" 35 Aerial Warfare Basics (YF) "I haven''t heard of that map before. What is the name of this battle?" (BM) " Oh you know what,I''m actually not sure what this battle was called. I think it was a lesser known part of World War 1 so not many people would be aware of such a minor battle. The results were only less than 20 altogether after all,what''s 20 casualties to a total of over 2000?" (HX) "Tell you what. I think the best thing we can do at this moment is to try and find this map. If we do then we will have an advantage over the others." (YF) "Certainly, if we find this map then the practice and experiments we can carry out are threefold of what we can achieve with the next best aerial map I know of." (BM) "Alright let''s get to work." The five of them began to look for the map that Baron told the about. And looked, and looked, and looked until they finally found it. There was a reason that this map was not well known, and that''s because it was under a category that no one visited ever. These were the battles that lasted only a few hours at most. Generally most strategists preferred battles that took longer than a few years. This not only proved how each strategists planned for the long term, but also how they fared during long and drawn out battles. With the map finally in their sights they spared no time in entering the simulation, this time as a group battle 2vs3. Han Xin was to be paired with Yue Fei while the other three were grouped together. They had chosen to split into these groups because Yue Fei and Han Xin had the most experience out of all of them and therefore could work together to figure out how to do the most damage with the less than 100 jets they had. Against the over 2,000 fleet of Ban Chao, Xu Da,and Baron. Although the advantage was overwhelmingly in favor of the group of three, they had decided that this simulation would be a practice round before actually beginning to practice. So this simulation would be a sort of introduction to the basics of aerial warfare. Once they began the simulation the five of them got together to discuss what they had planned to do. They all met up on neutral ground the moment they got into the simulation. Baron was the first to speak. (BM) "I think it would be best if Yue Fei and Han Xin gave an introduction to aerial warfare to Ban Chao and Xu Da." (YF) "Yes I think that''s a great idea. You two haven''t done any of these types of battles have you?" (BC) "Once actually, but I was humiliated so badly it still haunts me." (XD) "Never." (YF) "Well to be honest, aerial warfare is not that different from land battles. It''s only the objectives, the means of victory, and the types of weapons that change. You still have to target strategic positions, you still have to plan ahead, you still have to be vigilant and not underestimate the enemy, you still have to try your best to cripple the enemy." (HX) "Let me expand on what Yue Fei said. The warfare aspects do not change, however, you will have to think up new strategies to fight in the air. Whatever strategies do or do not work in the sky is what we should be testing today. First things first. One of the most important aspects of aerial warfare has to be the strategic bombings of various locations. Say we bomb a city. Sure we could lower the enemy morale, but that''s it. However, if we successfully bomb a military base, or any equivalent place with top officials or lots of enemy planes, then we would have dealt a devastating blow to the enemy." (YF) "Yes, although we would have to be vigilant of the enemy doing the same to us. Another thing to watch out for are spies in your ranks. Spies may be one of the biggest threats to any battle." (HX) "One of the determinants of an aerial battle is the use of radars. It won''t guarantee you victory, but it can guarantee you some Intel on the enemy. Then you''ll have some time to prepare for the oncoming attack." (BM) "I believe the jets for this map don''t have any radar sensing capabilities, nor has radar even been invented yet by that point in history. But I do have a blueprint for the radar tower that can help us with that." Complete silence followed suit. (HX) "Do you realize what you just said?" (BM) "No.... What for you mean?." (YF) "Do you know why the Chinese community don''t have many great Aerial strategists? Its not because we lack the capable strategists. Its because we lack the necessary blueprints to manufacture the advantage." (BM) "Really? Actually that doesn''t surprise me too much. Only recently has China began to start seriously investing in the air space of warfare. Naturally the few people who have designed and built more advanced stuff have either gone to other planets or are still alive." (YF) "Im not too sure about that but I''ll take your word for it. The other countries like England, Japan, Germany, and the United States have all surpassed us in this field just to name a few. Thankfully our land based simulations even out our poor air based performances." (BM) "Hmmm, I had no idea that was our current situation. Looks like we need to seriously modernize if we are to progress any further into the tournament. Much less win it. Anyway we need to continue with the basics" (YF) "Ah yes, we will also need to use a few planes to go on reconnaissance missions. However, we will be able to decrease the amount of times we do that if the radar tower that Baron has has already been built." (BM) "Alright I get it, I''ll draw a few blueprints for you guys later." (HX) "There are a few more points to give you guys, but I think it''s better if you guys experience it for yourselves. No matter what we say, experience triumphs over pointers." (BC) "Yes, let''s get our preparations underway." (XD) "Finally, I was wondering when you''d finish." (BM) "Alright I''ll get started on the radar tower blueprints, and maybe a few other things that might help us in the future. You guys can get started on experimenting." They then split up to accomplish their own tasks.Baron left to go draw up some blueprints, Ban Chao and Xu Da left to go study up on some more military aircraft strategy. While Han Xin andYue Fei discussed how to best use their limited amount of jets to take out as many of the enemy planes as they could. The preparation time for this map was only 1 week and so the time went by fast. The five of them met just before the battle began on neutral ground to speak again. (BM) "Alright guys here are the blueprints I''ve made for you all." Baron said as he handed each of his allies 3 separate sets of blueprints. "The first one is the radar tower that we mentioned before. The radar can detect aircraft and ships as long as they have a navigation system." (BC) "I fear for what the future of Earth will be like if we have already developed something like this." (BM) "Trust me, this isn''t all that impressive compared to some of the even more modern weapons we''ve built. We sure do like to fight each other. Anyway, the second blueprint that I''ve drawn for you guys is the radio set. This device allows you to communicate orders to your units immediately. Just like smoke signals that you guys are used to using, except you can ditectly talk to them. Of course, you''d have to install a receiver on each plane which is what the third blueprint is for." (HX) "Some of the newer maps that are fought in the air are indeed better than what you have presented to us here. However, this will definitely help us when the map that we are fighting doesn''t include these kinds of technology. Such as the earlier ones." (YF) "Gosh Baron, I never imagined that you would have so many blueprint ideas floating up in your brain. This is quite the advantage that you''ve given us." (BM) "It''s not too difficult to obtain this kind of information by the time I died. In fact, its available to a large swathe of the population. Most people don''t bother with it though, but that''s their decision." (XD) "Did you do a lot of traveling around then? It seems like by the time you died it was a relatively peaceful era." (BM) "Yes actually, I''ve been all around. I''ve seen many war factories, met many strategists, and best of all became a beacon of hope for my country........Wait we are getting off topic. Let''s begin the battle after all of Han Xin and Yue Fei''s planes have been equipped with the radio technology. We need as much practice as we can get." 36 Experimenting is Importan Once the battle officially began there was not much for Xu Da, Ban Chao, or Baron to do. After all they could not command their massive squadron of close to 2,000 bomber and fighter planes to fight. A portion of these pilots were given an order to spread out and make sure no enemies were coming. The three of them gave a report to the pilots saying that they would be unavailable to lead this force for 2 weeks. Instead the other NPC high ranking officers would be in charge. After they left the pilots did as they were told and took turns patrolling the skies for any enemies. This set the perfect stage for Yue Fei and Han Xin to practice any and all air tactics they could think of. The first tactic that these two employed were constant hit and run tactics designed to isolate and eliminate 2 or 3 planes in just a few minutes and fly away as fast as they could. This was a fairly basic tactic when one''s own forces number less than the enemy. Yue Fei and Han Xin''s strategy was to use the hit and run tactic plus setting up multiple ambushes along the way if enemy pilots were giving chase. On land this was also a pretty well known tactic, however there were different variables to consider when in the sky. For starters, on ground ambushes were made possible because there was terrain that could hide troops and machines like hills and trees. The sky is a different matter altogether because there was no cover in the sky, save for some clouds. On ground there was terrain that could have stopped pursuers like fallen trees and swamps. In the sky the only thing that could achieve that effect would be storms, but that would put both sides at an advantage. The final important variable would be speed difference at which the pursuer and the pursued are going at. In the sky, there is basically only a straight linear path from one to the other, so it is more likely than not that both sides had to either engage in an aerial dogfight or one side no longer has the fuel to continue. With all of these variables and other smaller factors in mind there must be a lot of careful consideration as to what strategies will put you on the most advantageous position while simultaneously denying your enemy of even countering. Yue Fei and Han Xin both have had prior experience in air warfare and had a fairly good understanding of these basic determinants. What they wanted to focus on in this simulation was to see how they fared against an army that basicallyreceived no instructions from any strategists aside from the NPC ones. The two of them put in many hours to strategically plan out every move that their planes made. Since the larger airforce was ordered to only stay and protect their base of operations, this allowed Yue Fei and Han Xin to have a major advantage from the get go. This meant that they could attack their enemy whenever they wanted to and they would not need to worry about a sneak attack from the enemy. They had a two week opportunity to deal as much damage as they could so they meticulously planned for several attacks everyday and every night. One more advantage they had was that every one of their planes were equipped with the radio system that Baron had given to them on a blueprint. They could give out orders to their pilots instantly while their enemy could not. Showtime finally came. On the first day of the official battle, Yue Fei and Han Xin had 60 planes at their disposal to the enemy''s close to 2,000. No matter how you cut it, they required strategical dominance to deal any sort of real damage to the enemy''s vast numbers. The hit and run tactics that they had their pilots engage in was quite effective especially to unsuspecting victims. During the first day only 25 of the enemy planes had been shot down. The second day would have drastically different results. The first day no enemy planes flew over to assist or give chase to Yue Fei or Han Xin''s pilots, but the second day would see fierce dogfights all over the place. With the two master strategists constantly giving out orders, there wasn''t many losses on their side but their enemy was a complete mess. At the end of the second day, Yue Fei''s side had lost only 4 planes out of their 60 while their enemy had lost over 75. 4 jets traded for almost 100 enemy jets shot down? It was a fairly good trade, however, if the numbers of both sides continued to fall like this then it would still be Yue Fei''s side who would lose. Yue Fei and Han Xin weren''t fools either. If this was their result when facing a strategist on Planet 4 then they''d be overjoyed. That was not the case, they were facing an NPC at the moment and an NPC is nowhere near the strategical prowess that even an average strategist possessed. Clearly they had much to work on. The next few days were rather similar to the second day and the losses for both sides continued to pile up. Due to an error in judgment that Han Xin had made during the fifth day of battle, they had lost 5 planes in a matter of minutes. By the start of the 8th day of battle, Yue Fei''s side only had 30 planes out of their squadron of 60 while their enemy still had over half of their planes still intact. Evidently the non stop fighting had taken a heavy toll on Yue Fei and Han Xin''s pilots. Still though, the two were happy that their first ever team up had produced such marvellous results. It didn''t matter that they would likely lose this battle. They had plenty of time after this simulation to reflect on what they could have done better or improve on certain aspects that they had been lacking before. They continued on the simulation and just before hitting the end of the two week mark, they had lost all of their fighter airplanes. Managing to take out 1,200 enemy planes before losing was quite a feat considering they only started out with about 60 planes. The simulation ended and all five of them returned back to their HQ in the Chinese community on Planet 4. The moment they took off their headgear they started to talk non stop. (BM) "Wow Yue Fei and Han Xin, you two are quite adept at fighting air battles. It''s a good thing that you two are to mentor us about it." (YF) "You think too highly of me, clearly the two of us have a long way to go before we can be considered true marshalls of the air." (HX) "Yes I agree with Yue Fei, if I was alone in that simulation even with the same situation I don''t think I could achieve half of what the two of us managed together. Ha ha ha ha ha, truely we are a force to be reckoned with." (BC) "What should we do now? Should we do what we did just now a couple more times?" (YF) "No, that would not benefit all of us. I have a different suggestion. As an elder of the Chinese community, I have many benefits bestowed unto me. One of these benefits is to go into a simulation against an NPC, meaning I can open up simulations for all of us to practice in while not having to sacrifice anybody''s time to be the enemy commander!" (BM) "Woah, I didn''t know such a thing existed. Truly the elders have it good." (HX) "I''ve heard about it, but I never really believed about it until now. How about we do it like this. Yue Fei will open up two simulations one for me and one for him. Then the three of you take turns coming with me or Yue Fei so that we can share with you about all the warfare tactics, and experience that we know?" (BM) "That''s a great idea elder Han Xin. I approve." (BC) "I second that." (XD) "Sounds good to me." (YF) "I had another idea, but that pales in comparison to what you just proposed. Let''s go with that then since everyone else agrees." Yue Fei did exactly as Han Xin had suggested and in no time the five of them split up into two groups and entered into the once simulation again. Yue Fei had teamed up with Baron while Xu Da and Ban Chao followed Han Xin into the simulations. With the simulation time to the time on Planet 4 being 1:7 both groups were out just before the two week mark in the simulation, or roughly two days time on Planet 4. During this time Ban Chao, Xu Da, and Baron had their horizons opened tremendously by their respective mentors. Then they entered again, but this time Baron paired up with Han Xin and Ban Chao/Xu Da followed Yue Fei. Another two days time on Planet 4 passed until the five of them met up again. This time their understanding of aerial warfare had become even deeper than before, and new ideas started to sprout from each of their minds as to how the best result could be achieved. The five of them then decided that grouping together for any upcoming simulations would no longer be as beneficial to each other so they decided that each of them would get a separate room. Baron tried to encourage the others by suggesting that whoever gets the highest amount of enemy planes shot down during any one simulation, would get a blueprint from Baron himself. Now the others were super pumped and entered into their own simulations with a passion. This was how they spent the next few months on Planet 4. 37 Trouble Brewing Although Baron had given an incentive to the others, he personally did not feel that taking down as many planes as he could was the best way to go about this. Nevertheless he decided he would try it out once, report it to the others and then on his second simulation he would do his own experiments. The results were as follows for most planes downed. Yue Fei took first place with 720, then Han Xin with 650, followed by Xu Da downing 430, then came Baron at 415 Then Ban Chao with 390. All in all not a bad start to such a difficult task. After reporting their first simulations they went in again and again to try and achieve more and more. The pattern with this simulation was that the longer you spent inside the more planes you were assumed to have taken down. The 5 of them started finishing the simulation slower and slower. Started out with most of them lasting for less than two weeks, then three weeks, then a month,two months four months. However Baron did not follow this trend and instead worked on something he felt the others didn''t care about, and that was the individual strength of each pilot that was in his army.Starting with Baron''s second simulation, he didn''tfinish it for 5 whole months. By that time everyone else was starting to get worried over what Baron was up to. There were two things that Baron was looking for when he started. One was to ascertain if training his soldiers would yield any effects,and the other was to slowly take his time to defeat the enemy. Both were a major success and he managed to take out almost 1,400 of the enemy planes. Such a quantitave and qualitative difference from Baron''s first and second simulations was a shock to everybody. After Baron reported his findings the rest of the gangs decided to conduct their own mini experiments and soon another year passed by on Planet 4. By now Han Xin, Yue Fei, and Baron could successfully decimate almost the entirety of the enemy forces. This was considered extremely quick when compared to the other Chinese community members. They had efficiently become close to aviation warfare masters by this point, but this was nowhere near enough to guarantee them a win in the faction selection tournament. After all, the Vesper faction had invited some of the best aerial masters in the Chinese community to make sure that Baron''s faction would never see the light of day. The five of them may have progressed quite a bit in terms of air tacticts but they didn''t dare say they could beat the masters. Han Xin, Baron, Yue Fei, Ban Chao, and Xu Da decided to take a break after practicing this simulation after another two years spent inside. They had matters to discuss that involved Madam Zheng''s faction which was called the Forever Pirate Faction. This time Madam Zheng and her two husbands personally came to Baron''s HQ to discuss some rather distressing news. (BM) "Welcome Madam Zheng and company. What happened that you had to personally come over to discuss?" (MZ) "It''s a matter concerning the Vesper faction suppressing us. The situatuon has gotten worse. More so than our deepest fears I''m afraid" (BM) "How so?" (MZ) "There is another group that has started to suppress us, and we suspect that this group was bribed by the Vesper faction. Although this new group is by far weaker than Vesper, they managed to break the stalemate that my faction had against Vesper. " (BM) "What did you come here to tell me then?" (MZ) "This is an extremely tricky situation because the man that is leading this new faction is a man by the name of Li Xin. No doubt you have heard of him. We have intelligence that suggests you''ve made contact with him already. Basically we want you to talk him out of this." (BM) "I''ve met him once, he seems like a nice guy but I don''t know if I can even do what you request of me." (MZ) "Can you at least try?" (BM) "If i''m successful then what will I get in return?" (H1) "Hmph, is the continuation of our alliance not enough of a reward?" (BM) "On the contrary, I think that is nowhere near enough. I won''t say anything pretentious like I can definitely persuade Li Xin to call it off, but I will do my best." (MZ) "Thank you Baron, if you succeed I''ll repay this debt to you many fold." (BM) "There is one matter that i''m still unsure about. Li Xin doesn''t seem like the type of fellow that can be bribed. So who is behind the actions of Li Xin?" (MZ) "This new faction intent on suppressing us isn''t an independent faction like mine or what yours will be. Instead it is a subsidiary faction backed up by a much more powerfulfaction. It''s a bit difficult to explain, but the gist of it is that powerful factions will often have subsidiary factions to do their dirty work and take all the blame. Once a request is sent out from the main faction, failing to obey is akin to rebelling against the gods. That''s why Li Xin has no choice to do this to us." (BM) "Seems like even the matters of the afterlife are not spared from the meddling of humans. Alright, I''ll go talk to Li Xin right now, and remember Madam Zheng. You owe me one." The group dispersed, and for the first time in years Baron and the gang stepped foot outside of their HQ. It was quite a coincidence that their funds were beginning to run low. So they decided to sell a couple more blueprints to make some quick coins. However, Baron had to try and dissuade Li Xin from suppressing the Forever Pirate Faction led by Madam Zheng. Baron showed up to Li Xin''s faction called Owl Well and requested an audience with the leader Li Xin. Once Li Xin heard it was Baron, he immediately dropped everything and met up with Baron as fast as he could. (LX) "Welcome Baron, come, come, lets go to my room and chat for a bit." Li Xin said as he guided Baron to an empty room. They both sat down and Li Xin continued "I can guess why you''re here, and let me just say that I didn''t want to do any of this." (BM) "Who is making you do this?" (LX) "Some of the elders in the main faction have been bribed by the Vesper faction to help them suppress the Forever Pirates. This never would have happened if the faction leader was still around." (BM) "Who is your faction leader and where is he then?" (LX) "His name is Sun Tzu, and he is currently with a few big shots touring the other communities." (BM) "The legendary Sun Tzu? No wonder the Forever Pirate faction is unwilling to go against you." (LX) "That''s right, remember during our first meeting I said to you that I was being backed by one of the two great elders?That would be Sun Tzu that I''m talking about." (BM) "Now things seem to fit into place. So there is nothing that you can do to perhaps stop suppressing Madam Zheng''s faction?" (LX) "It''s not like I can''t do anything, but I would be going against my elders if I did. That is akin to ending my livelihood here." (BM) "What do you mean?" (LX) "If I do decide to rebel then they would kick me out, and not only that no other faction would take me in considering that I didn''t follow my superior''s instructions." (BM) "If it really comes to that then you could join my faction. Aside from that there is absolutely nothing you could do?" (LX) "Well, we aren''t that acquainted yet, if you gave me some sort of help then I could do the same for you." (BM) "You want a blueprint?" (LX) "Yes, I really want that repeating crossbow blueprint. It''s got quite a bit of a reputation here if you couldn''t already tell." (BM) "How about you talk your elders out of suppressing Madam Zheng first? Then we''ll talk." (LX) "I was just joking about that, even if my elders did put me out of this matter altogether, they will just send someone else in my stead. So there is really nothing that can be done. Unless of course, you bribe the elders of my main faction." (BM) "Is it even possible to get an audience with them in such a short amount of time?" (LX) "That would definitely only be a dream, but I have something else in mind. Since we know each other, at least partially, why don''t we plan out how I suppress the faction of your biggest ally?" (BM) "You mean to say decide which parts of Forever Pirates to suppress? Yea, that actually works" (LX) "Yes, but of course i''ll need that blueprint If we are to continue with this path." 38 Guan Yu (BM) "You''re suggesting that we should pull a fast one over your elders?" Baron asked Li Xin skeptically. (LX) "You are thinking too far ahead of this. My elders have already received the reward from the Vesper faction. They don''t really care if I do or don''t use everything in my arsenal to suppress the Forever Pirates. As long as I show any form of progress they will leave me to it." (BM) "Alright I suppose, that would be the best way to go about this situation. But.... " (LX) "Do you still not trust me?" (BM) "Well... " (LX) "Let me tell you something that no one else on my faction knows. I may act like a fool to my faction members, but I am in no way inferior to even some of my elders. I''m only in those lowly position because I have no reason to want more responsibility." (BM) "Oh that''s good, then I''ll leave it up to you. The blueprint will be delivered to you once I see some results." (LX) "You have nothing to worry about since I''m personally taking matters into mu own hands." The two men chatted for a whip longer, said their farewells, and Baron went back to report the matter to Madam Zheng. (BM) "Greetings, Madam Zheng. The task is done." (MZ) "You got Li Xin to withdraw from suppressing my faction?" She said excitedly. (BM) "Unfortunately no, Li Xin advised that even if he were to stop then another subsidiary faction will come in to suppress you even harder." (MZ) "Then what exactly did you accomplish?" (BM) "I''ve made a deal with Baron that involves him only suppressing certain parts of your faction. The parts that aren''t very profitable anyway. Plus he will try to stall as much as possible to hive you ample breathing space to resist Vesper." (MZ) "That''s actually a pretty good deal, what did you prose h I''m return? I''m sure he''s a nice guy and all, but I doubt he''d do this for you withoutgetting at least something in return." (BM) "I had to give him the blueprint for the repeating crossbow. Of course, he would get it after he kept his part of the deal." (MZ) "You did well this time, I''m glad that I called upon you to take care of this task. Now that I owe you a favour, what would you like? Is there something naughty on your mind?" (BM) "Careful there, your two husbands are right outside this door. Let''s not go there. As of now there is nothing that I require from you. Perhaps you could help me with a matter in the future." (MZ) "I was kidding when I said that, but sure. I''ll come to your aid in the future if you need it." Madam Zheng and Baron Magellan talked about a few other matters and Baron departed from Madam Zheng''s room. He returned to his own HQ, the HQ of the future faction Under 1 Banner. Upon entering he greeted the four other members and was puzzled when he saw another figure he didn''t realize standing in the room. (HX) "Ah Baron you''re back. I''d like you to meet one of my close allies. In fact he''s my only ally aside from the four of you. His name is Guan Yu." (BM) "Wow elder Han Xin, I''ve gotta say. You sure do have an eye for trustworthy people." (HX) "Haha,do I? " (BM) "Out of everyone in Chinese history you have chosen perhaps two of the most trustworthy allies. That is quite an eye you''ve got there. Greetings elder Guan Yu." (GY) "No need for honorifics with me my friend. We''re already dead, no need to be so polite." (BM) "Alright then Guan Yu. It''s a pleasure to meet you." The two of them shook hands when Yue Fei suddenly piped up. (YF) "As I was saying, Guan Yu is also an elder in the Chinese Community. He is also way higher ranked than me at rank 72. While I myself am at rank 93, I''veranked up a bitthanks to Baron for providing those blueprints for me to auction off." (BM) "Haha, it''s only natural that I help you all out. We do need as much elders in our ranks as soon as possible. Hopefully Han Xin, Ban Chao, and Xu Da can rise into the elder position beforethe faction selection tournament officially begins. Of course I won''t force any of you into the elder position if you don''t want to." He said as he looked expectantly at Han Xin who had a history of conserving his strength and secrets. (HX) "I''ll think about it Baron. Now what do you say? Is Guan Yu in or not?." (BM) "Sure, I''d love to have him in our ranks. He should be quite the strategist according to all my research. Just one question though, have you been in any other factions?" (GY) "Yes , but I''ve mainly been drifting through factions helping in any way I can. Most of the times though I''m a factionless strategist." (BM) "Oh interesting. Does that mean we are a passing fancy as well?" (GY) "We''ll see, but I have a good impression of you guys. I''ll stick around for a bit and see how things turn out." (BM) "You may be an extremely well versed strategist, but I hope you can understand that we can''t just share our secrets to people who like to faction hop." (GY) "Yes that makes sense to me. How about I help you guys out with some other matters and not interfere with your secret?" (BM) "Alright then. If you do decide to stay with us long term then you are more than welcome to join us in our exercises." (GY) "I''ll take that into consideration thanks." (BM) "For now Han Xin will show you what to do in the meantime." Baron said as he motioned for Han Xin to guide Guan Yu away. (HX) "Come on Guan Yu, this way." Han Xin said as he lead the other to a separate room. Once there Guan Yu couldn''t help it any longer. (GY) "How come this young fellow is ordering you around? aren''t you his senior?" (HX) "Oh that? While I may be his senior, he is the figurehead that will lead our faction from the shadows." (GY) "Shadows? Who will be the public faction leader then?" (HX) "We will announce it as a cooperation between me and Yue Fei." (GY) "Ah, I see. So what did you want me to do then?" (HX) "Actually that was just meant to get you out of the room so he could brief the others on what to do next, and also for me to have a talk to you regarding your future with us." (GY) "You already have that deep of a bond with him that you can tell his motive just from what he said?" (HX) "Yea I guess that''s just how much we understand each other after just a few months of close proximity. I''ll tell you now that if you don''t seriously consider joining us then I think it''s better if you leave. I really think Baron can achieve great things here. I just know it." (GY) "He must''ve been real persuasive if he even got you on board. How about I test his abilities a bit? Just to see how good he is." (HX) "You should know that this fellow is not so simple. He died when he was 20, yet he was able to fight me to a draw after witnessing me for a few simulations. Don''t underestimate Baron." (GY) "Thanks for the warning, judging by what you all told me earlier, Baron seems like he has a lot of blueprints in his collection." (HX) "Oh, you''ve got no idea just how much blueprints Baron has. Even I don''t know the full extent of his collection." (GY) "You don''t even know? Then that means he could be more of a monster than even some of the top 20 elders. Even if his experience is a bit lacking. Alright then, let me have a little simulation with Baron to test him myself." (HX) "I think that''s a great idea, but I must warn you. If you win, then that only means Baron hasn''t pulled out his true ace cards yet. He gave me a Mark 7 tank like it was nothing, I honestly have no idea just how advanced this fellow is when it comes to the even newer blueprints like missiles, and the like." (GY) "That''s a bit hard to take in. You aren''t joking with me are you old friend?" (HX) "Oh, I''m dead serious this time Guan Yu. His knowledge of modern warfare is like the endless universe compared to what we understand." (GY) "If that''s true then we might finally be able to do better in the Death Match Tournament once he is old enough to participate." (HX) "Yea, it seems like a true force of nature has finally descended upon our community. We have to make sure that Baron stays safe until then. So you must decide now, join us and change our future forever, or be left out." (GY) "That''s a difficult question to answer Han Xin. I''ll make up my mind once I''ve had a proper simulation against him." (HX) "Naturally." 39 The Dieppe Raid Han Xin and Guan Yu reentered the room where they had previously been. Except this time there was only Baron who remained now. The others had left. (GY) "Hmm, where did everyone else go?" (BM) "Ah your back elder Guan Yu. The others have left to continue their simulation training. Have you decided on what you''d like to do?" (GY) "Yes I have, but just to be sure I''d like to test out your abilities first." (BM) "Sounds like you have almost finished deciding and you just need me to prove to you that I''m worth your time." (GY) "I can start to see how you got the others to start following you. You are quite the perceptive one. However, you shouldn''t get too cocky yet. (BM) "You''re quite right. Han Xin, please continue your training. No point in wasting time spectating us. If you''d please elder Guan Yu." Within a moment all three men disappeared into their own simulations. It was customary that should two strategist want to face each other for the first time, they would leave the settings as random. This is exactly what Guan Yu and Baron did. The random setting was revealed to be The Dieppe Raid that occurred on August 19, 1942 in Germany occupied France. The history connected to this particular setting was a little depressing for the Allied powers. A few Allied nations hoped to achieve a few important goals. The first was to boost morale, another was to gather intelligence, and also to prove to others that fighting back Germany was possible. However the only goal they managed to achieve was gathering intelligence. Nearly 60% of the invading Allied forces were killed, captured, or wounded. Though the 3,000 or so Germans were outnumbered to the approximately 10,000 Allied forces the Germans would successfully push back the invaders easily. It was a complete and utter disaster for the Allies especially the Canadian forces that made up the majority of the Allied forces. Baron was to lead the invasion with his army of Allied troops against Guan Yu and his German troops. What made this map interesting was that there was a preparation time of 1 year. By far not a common sight in most simulations. The advantages were clear for Guan Yu. Better trained troops, more advanced weaponry, and better cohesion because his entire army consisted of all German troops. The advantages for Baron was quite clear as well, he had more troops altogether, but due to there being soldiers from various countries, the cohesion between them wasn''t as great as Guan Yu''s men. Baron wasn''t concerned because he planned to spend the year of preparation to greatly train his men, run drills, and pound everything he had learned from his previous air training simulations to best Guan Yu. Of course, Baron had done research onto this before he died so he already knew many things that Guan Yu would have to find out as the time comes. Baron knew that a big reason that the Germans were able to push back the Allies was because the Germans were aware that an attack was coming. They had the intelligence because there were multiple double agents that reported this attack. Another reason was that the Allies weren''t very secretive when transporting supplies which made it fairly easy to guess where they would attack. Perhaps the biggest reason though was because the Allied forces were because the batteries that could hit Dieppe weren''t neutralized before the important raid. Baron was already aware of this so he spent the better part of a week to devise a strategy capable of defeating Guan Yu. Going by his estimates he had a close to 40% chance of winning, but this was a conservative guess as this was the best case scenario. Who knew what surprises Guan Yu had in store for him?" Guan Yu would spend months upon months completing construction projects around his most important strategical positions while Baron would spend it a bit differently. Baron knew that one of the most important aspects of warfare was intelligence. He was extremely careful regarding spies and the like, but he had a few other ideas to deny Guan Yu of any intelligence. Unlike history, Baron could afford to take as much time as he wanted to in order to secure himself a win. For the preparation time Guan Yu spent most of it in the German occupied lands of France. While Baron spent most of it in the UK. The one year of preparation time quickly came to an end, but Baron had no intentions of waging war with Guan Yu any time soon. He baded his time and another 4 months pass before Baron made any sort of move. In history the Allies started by attacking 6 other beaches that had batteries that could defend Dieppe Beach. They hoped to neutralize all of these batteries in order for their troops to have an easier time to take Dieppe Beach, but these only 1 of these 6 other battlefields were taken by the Allies. Baron didn''t intend to make errors in calculations like what happened in history. He had time on his hands so he went about these 6 beaches with caution and surprise attacks. Months before, Baron had sent in many spies to these 6 beaches plus a few others so that he could use them for his great plan. Instead of splitting up his army into many fragments like what happened in history, he decided that it would be wisest to split them up into three groups. Two for attacking, and the other as a reserve. The time finally came for him to attack the 6 other beaches. He took one of the attacking forces which consisted of multiple jets, carriers, infantry, and a bunch of others and did something Guan Yu did not expect. Baron called up his spy on the Blue Beach to blow up the power lines and cause as much confusion as possible. He had close to 20 spies on Blue Beach, all of them volunteers from the UK. At the height of confusion on the German occupied beach, Baron quietly led his forces inand started attacking like no tomorrow. First he had bombers unload a bunch of bombs onto the beach further increasing the panic and confusion. Followed by a swift docking of his infantrymen and heavy tanks. The rest of the battle was quick and decisive since Baron was there to lead his men with the help of his radio blueprint that was able to connect every force available to him. He started his attack in the middle of night at 0200 hours. He finished his battle just 3 hours later and proceeded to neutralize the batteries. He then led his forces to advance further into German territory to do exactly what he had just done to the other 5 targets. It wasn''t for a couple days until Guan Yu received the report that Blue Beach, Orange Beach, Yellow Beach, Red Beach, and White Beach had fallen to enemy forces. It wasn''t that his men were slow to deliver the news, it was just that the initial blowing up the power lines meant that the people at the beach weren''t able to send reports to head HQ informing them that they were under attack. Now only Green Beach was left, but that wouldn''t be the case for much longer because Baron was attacking Green Beach as Guan Yu got the report about the other 5 beaches. By the time Guan Yu reacted, Baron had already finished up Green Beach and actually decided to try and squeeze one more victory under his belt before ordering his men to retreat. His target was a German radio station that could detect Baron''s ships and aircraft within a certain distance. Guan Yu was livid at this point. Not only had Baron managed to strike a devastating blow to his defenses in such a short few days, he had managed to do so in a way that prevented Guan Yu to react at all. However, Guan Yu would not let Baron achieve any more successes under his watch. He immediately sent out about 200 FW 190 fighter air crafts from the Luftwaffe under his command to help aid the Pourville Radar Station that Baron had set his eyes upon. Guan Yu was sure that this attachment was enough to scare the enemy into retreating. Baron did indeed want to destroy the Pourville Radar Station, but he had a hidden motive. He hoped that Guan Yu would be coming personally to have a few bouts with Baron. However that was not the case, and Baron had to rethink his strategy. On the way to the radar station, Baron had decided that it was finally time to have the second group come out, at least partially. He ordered the pilots from the second group to descend into Germany occupied France in order to do a bit of reconnaissance. Baron had hoped that he could get enough intel through enemy messages, however it seems that Guan Yu clamped down on this sort of information leak. The 200 or so FW 190 German air craft sent to deter Baron did not work and instead suffered 40 casualties before Guan Yu ordered them to retreat. Within a few more hours, Pourville Radar Station was under Baron''s control. This week long conquest had undoubtedly gone into Baron''s favor. That is until he returned back to the Uk and received the reconnaisance report that he had sent the pilots of the second group to investigate. It turns out that Guan Yu had constructed multiple more Beachesall with batteries capable of defending Dieppe Beach from many kilometers away. A total of 20 more had been found by his men, it was highly possible that there were more undiscovered ones that his men did not manage to spot. (BM) "It looks like you''ve been quite busy the last little while Guan Yu." 40 Your Loss Baron had expected Guan Yu to construct maybe five to ten more coastal defence fortifications with batteries. However, 20 plus was completely outside of his expectations. The reason he was able to swiftly take care of the previous six beaches and the Pourville radar station was because he had planted spies inside to cause mass confusion. These new areas would be harder to take because he had no spies inside. This was an extremely huge oversight on Baron''s part. Baron knew that underestimating an enemy was a boon to strategists everywhere. He made a mental note to improve upon this bad habit of his later. For now he had to think of some way to move forward with the simulation. There were a couple of options that popped into Baron''s mind immediately. The first of which involved him taking out every single fortification that Guan Yu had constructed. The advantage gained here would be that taking Dieppe Beach would be a much easier task, but the disadvantage would be dragging the battle out which would decrease all the morale he had just managed to gain. Another option would be to take only the more strategically important targets and then proceed to take Dieppe Beach. The pros with this route was that his high morale wouldn''t be reduced too much, but the cons were that taking the main beach would be a little tougher. After thinking for a few more hours he came up with two more ideas, but they were equally as bad as the first two. One new idea was to attack Dieppe Beach with his entire force as is and hope for the best. Clearly going down this route would take on huge amounts of risks. Risks he was not willing to take. The other idea was to directly launch a two pronged attack against Dieppe Beach and the HQ where Guan Yu was staying at. If this worked out then Dieppe Beach would no longer receive orders from Guan Yu which would decrease their defensive capabilities by quite a large margin. In the end Baron thought of a few more plans, but he decided that launching the two pronged attack was in his best interest. After all, if he gave Guan Yu more time to prepare, then whose to say Guan Yu wouldn''t have completed 20 or even 30 more batteries along the coast? Giving Guan Yu those extra few months after the preparation time seemed to bite him back in his flank. This was when he received some terrible news. (M) "General Baron Sir! We have some news to report to you." (BM) "What is it? If it isn''t too important then tell me later. I need to work on the logistics for our next attack." (M) "This is very important. We have lost all contacts with our spies in Dieppe Bea and the enemy HQ. It seems as though something happened to all of them since they went off the grid at practically the same time." (BM) "Could Guan Yu have done something to all of our spies so quickly?It seems as though this is too much of a coincidence. Is it possible we have a spy in our midst, or could it be Guan Yu has converted all of them to his side? This matter will have to wait for now. We need to focus on other things at the moment." Baron made all the preparations and as an extra precaution he reorganized his forces as follows. There would be 4 groups attacking Dieppe Beach, and the central HQ where Guan Yu should be at. The first two groups would attack Dieppe Beach and these forces mainly composed of tanks, infantry, a few bombers/jets, and all the ships available to him. One of these would serve as the main attacking force while the other group was formed as special operations unit. This special operations group would receive direct orders from Baron on what to do and they were handpicked by Baron himself due to their courageousness and skill. The other two groups were similar to the first two, but their main attacking force consisted of mostly fighter aircraft and infantry. One group was also made to be a special ops unit. The reason Baron had decided to create these two special forces was simple. The two pronged attack will likely not work without his spies on the inside. Especially considering Guan Yu still had 20 plus batteries that could still defend Dieppe Beach. So instead Baron decided that he needed special ops to stealthily infiltrate the two positions in the dead of night. Then proceed to sabotage as much guns, artillery, radar, radio communication, and anything else that would help the enemy. This was certainly a huge risk that Baron was taking. Therefore, to increase his chances of winning he decided to only tell these men first of their objective, then send them out immediately. To prevent a leak of information Baron only told his Lieutenant and officers about this matter the day that they were to leave for combat. Sure there were some who weren''t very happy about this, but Baron made it known to them that keeping this plan confidential was important. They set out and within a few hours Baron received a report from both of his special forces units. The plan worked out splendidly and they caused a lot of damage to many of the enemy infrastructure and weaponry. Baron ordered them to get back to the rendezvous and that they would all be airlifted back to their base in the UK. This was one of the critical point in Baron''s plan the other was to stall Guan Yu at the enemy HQ long enough so that Baron and the Dieppe Beach attacking force could take over Dieppe Beach. The group lead by Baron''s Lieutenant would be attacking Guan Yu''s HQ first, then after an hour Baron would commence with his attack on Dieppe Beach. At first everything was going well for the two pronged offensive. Baron received reports that the group targeting the HQ was even managing to get a slight edge over the enemy. Baron knew something was not right. If Guan Yu were at the HQ, then Baron''s army should at most have a stalemate against the enemy forces. Yet his side was pushing the other back? There was only one explanation for this Baron thought to himself. Guan Yu was not at the HQ at all, he was probably at Dieppe Beach. This was not good news to Baron. He had designed this plan so that Guan Yu would be too preoccupied by the HQ to send any orders to Dieppe Beach. Instead it seemed like Baron and Guan Yu would be facing off in the final showdown of this simulation. He only realized this when his army just started attacking Dieppe Beach. He still had a bit of time left to devise a strategy that would allow him to win. The first thing he did was to recall the other army and have them join forces to create one army that could break through and seize Dieppe Beach from Guan Yu''s hands. Baron cooked up a whole new strategy, this time involving his entire army and began to brief his officers about the new change in plan. They put it into effect immediate and things started to look up for them. They started by setting up a smokescreen so large that the enemy had trouble discerning who was enemy and who was foe. With this smoke screen, Baron''s soldiers had a higher chance of making it ashore. The battle raged on for a few more hours, and when the two sides had reached a stalemate, Baron''s other army arrived to tip the balance. It was another hour before Baron noticed something that didn''t seem quite right. He knew his tactics were fairly good, but Guan Yu''s men didn''t seem to have any semblance of unity among them. There was something else too, the batteries the other Beaches carried didn''t seem to be firing onto Dieppe Beach. Baron was completely confused as to what Guan Yu had wanted to achieve. Then Baron noticed one last detail that he had missed before. The smokescreen was supposed to have disappeared by now, so why hasn''t it? Multiple ships emerged from the smoke and that''s when everything went wrong for Baron. These new ships were from Guan Yu''s forces, and followed by the firing from these ships, were the batteries that had finally charged up and were doing massive amounts of damage to the now mostly Baron''s forces on Dieppe Beach. As if this wasn''t bad enough the Luftwaffe that were supposed to have stayed behind at Guan Yu''s HQ also came into the fray. Baron was flanked from the sea, from the air, and honestly the only thing he could do was to move forward and take DIeppe Beach before trying to attempt to defend it.Baron almost, almost made it. However, Guan Yu was just too cunning. Baron couldn''t manage to hang on and Baron''s men surrendered after they saw just how outmatched they were. That is how the simulation ended. The two exited the simulation and there was nothing but praise from both sides. (GY) "Looks like it''s your loss." (BM) "Well done Guan Yu, it seems like I''m no match for you." (GY) "Oh don''t say that. If I hadn''t convinced my superiors to lend me a few ships, then whose to say you wouldn''t have won?" (BM) "Even so, I played right into your hands." (GY) "Yes, it seems like you were a bit too hasty when you decided to attack Dieppe Beach. You are still young and inexperienced. I can''t imagine how much you''d mature in a few decades." (BM) "So have you decided then? About joining us?" (GY) "Yea why not, you all seem like worthwhile people." 41 Blueprints Galore (BM) "Wonderful, it seems like we have yet another strong individual in our ranks now. Elder Guan Yu, I''ll have to count on you from now on." (GY) "Haha, don''t mention it. I''m rather more curious about another matter." (BM) "Oh? And what might that be?" (GY) "It''s about the hierarchy that your future faction, what did Han Xin say....Under 1 Banner, what will the hierarchy be like?" (BM) "I''m afraid that what I''m going to implement later is not going to be exactly conventional as you might be familiar with." (GY) "You mean, you won''t be implementing the 5 class system?" (BM) "No I will not." (GY) "Is there a particular reason? The 5 class system is composed of Leader, inner circle, elder, inner disciple, and outer disciple. From what I''ve noticed, it seems to work fairly well." (BM) "I can understand why you have these questions, but I assure you that the system I am introducing is a bit more effective than the 5 class system. I will be implementing a 20 class system that will undoubtedly be better for the long term of our faction." (GY) "20 classes? Why do you need so many?" (BM) "There''s actually one more aspect that I will be changing, and that''s the promotion part. I understand that the convention around the Chinese community is to have the elders have a simulation against potential strategists that have talent. I''m going to change it so that every one of our disciples report what they have achieved, through tournaments and other events, will be assessed every decade or so to determine whether or not they deserve to rise a rank or two." (GY) "Will each class have a different name?" (BM) "I''m thinking for the sake of simplicity it''s better to just have the top 5 classes named exactly like the other factions, and the other 15 will just be named class 6 to class 20." (GY) "Oh I see. Well now that we have that settled we should talk of other matters. What is your method of training for the upcoming Faction Selection Tournament?" (BM) "Now that you have decided to become one of us, I suppose that you have the right to know. Here, let''s go into the simulation and I''ll show you." The two of them entered the exact simulation that Baron and the others had just spent many months practicing to become better aviation strategists. Guan Yu was surprised to say the least. He had been around on Planet 4 for quite a bit of time, yet he had never heard of anyone even mention this setting. This mode was truly a hidden gem that perhaps they only had the knowledge to. Baron and Guan Yu entered the simulation on the same side so that they would be going against an NPC strategist. Baron decided to show Guan Yu the tricks and knacks of this mode. (BM) "So I know that you are a pretty good aerial strategist, but I noticed that during our simulation your pilots lacked a bit of finesse. What i''ve found out is that if you have the time it is in your best interest to train your pilots in aerial maneuvers and drill them with tactics. This gets them comfortable with these situations and they can perform these tasks a bit better when they actually have to use them." (GY) "Oh that makes sense. Then that probably works for land air troops i''m assuming." (BM) "Personally I haven''t tried it, but yes that should also be the case. The simulations we have are heavily based upon the physics and logic of Earth, well except for the strategists of both sides being about as strong as 50 men." (GY) "Has no one told you about any official simulation competitions?" (BM) "What are you talking about?" (GY) "In any official tournament like the faction selection tournament, and the Death Match Tournament are considered official tournaments and the strategists will be as strong as the regular man. That''s why there are much more cases of assassinations in these tournaments than what you have experienced so far." (BM) "Is that so? Looks like official tournaments have a bit more realism than what I''m used to. We''ll talk about this later, for now you should focus on trying to take down as much of the 2,000 strong enemy forces with your less than 100 fighter sir craft. I''ll spectate on the side." Guan Yu was no slouch when he had to strategize for air battles, and now that he knows to train his pilots he was even better. For his first simulation he managed to take down close to 800 enemy air craft before losing all his pilots. Keep in mind that Han Xin, and Yue Fei only managed to take down about 600 on their first individual try. With these kinds of results Baron couldn''t help but be astonished as to how much of a genius he had just recruited. They talked a bit more after Guan Yu''s simulation. (BM) "Well done, elder Guan Yu. You have thoroughly shocked me with the results you have produced." (GY) "You flatter me. I''ve managed to get about 800 air craft shot down, how many have you guys managed to destroy?" (BM) "Unfortunately, we have hit a bit of a bottleneck in our training. We have managed to get close to double what you got just now at 1600. However, we can''t seem to figure out how to take out the last 400 air crafts. The limiting factor for us seems to be that after there are only 5 or so of our pilots left they have basically given up on fighting seriously. They will still follow orders, but their skills that they show during the later parts of the simulation seems to be sluggish at best." (GY) "Oh really. How about I have another go at it? If I figure anything out I''ll be sure to inform all of you." (BM) "Alright, you used a bit over 1 month in the simulation just now, which is about 4 days on planet 4. The longest we have ever stayed inside this simulation was about 6 months, which is about 24 days. The reason that the drop off from taking out large numbers of planes in the beginning to only a few at the later stages is because you can only do so much with 5 or 10 planes. So my advice to you is to endure the slowness of the later stages and focus primarily on taking out enemy air crafts." (GY) "Thanks for the advice." Guan Yu turned to reenter the simulation but he turned around again. "Will you be doing this as well?" (BM) "No I won''t have time for this simulation for quite a few more days, our faction needs to make a bit more money before we become official. I plan on making blueprints for the next few weeks. Which reminds me, here." Baron handed to Guan Yu the blueprint for the radio that he had also given to the others. (GY) "You have a radio blueprint? No wonder you got the others to follow after you. You are full of surprises. Thanks I''ll be sure to use them well." Guan Yu left to practice the simulations over and over again. Baron went into his room and began madly drawing blueprint after blueprint. No matter how much he produced, he felt it wans''t enough. He continued on for close to 3 months, all the while shut up in his room. The others started to get worried for Baron and decided to go pay him a visit. They opened the door to find Baron still at his desk drawing up another blueprint. He didn''t even look up when the others came in. (HX) "Baron, we may not need to eat food or sleep, but you shouldn''t stay cooped up here. We are still human even if we are dead." (BM) "Thanks for your concern, but I''m just about done with my blueprints. Why don''t you guys have a look through the blueprints and see if there''s anything you guys like. There are many copies of the same thing so could you guys help me tidy it up while you''re going through them?" (GY) "Yea why not, I was getting pretty bored of doing the same simulation for so long I need a change of pace." (XD) "Same." (BC) "I''m done for that." The five of them started sorting through the huge pile of mess that Baron had spent months creating and scanned through them quickly. They found many great toys, but they weren''t much use on the battlefield. There were still mostly basic weapons, a few rifles, handguns, sniper rifles, but most of these were more of a strategist''s personal weapon not to be mass produced in a simulation. There were quite a few good ones though and among them were blueprints like war chariots, overshoes, and very basic surveillance drones. War chariots were horse driven carts that could fit a few men that could run over infantry, much like a regular car can. Overshoes were shoes that left prints that resembled barefooted locals, this was fairly useful if you were fighting in guerilla warfare sims (simulations). The surveillance drones should be pretty self explanatory but the beauty of this was that virtually no one in the Chinese community knew what drones were or what they looked like. Therefore, this was strictly U1B''s (Under 1 Banner) secret weapon. Truly Baron was ahead of everyone at the moment, but how long would it stay like that? 42 Three Great Factions of China (BM) "Now that we have an abundance of blueprints I think we should pay a visit to the auction house again." Baron said with satisfaction. (GY) "I believe there is going to be an event held by the Chinese community heads that will be good for selling blueprints and the like." Guan Yu informed Baron. (BM) "Oh that''s nice, when will this event be held?" (GY) "In about 2 years time." (BM) "Two years huh? I''m still not quite used to what you people consider soon. Anyway, I think that we should sell a portion of these blueprints then we will have enough money to shop around in two years time. Once that event starts we can auction off our slightly more advanced blueprints that are in our possession." (HX) "Yes, that also works, but why do you want to sell the blueprints now? We aren''t exactly short on money" said Han Xin a little confused. (BM) "Remember what I told you guys about increasing our standings in the Chinese community?" (YF) "Ah now it makes sense" said Yue Fei coming to a realization. (GY) "Wait this is news to me. Why do you guys need to increase your standings?" (BM) "You see Guan Yu, we don''t plan on just becoming another faction. We seek to be the peerless faction on Planet 4. So to start we need to gather as many elders as we can." (GY) "Every faction wishes for this. As of now the factions to beat in just the Chinese community is the Yellow Wang Alliance, Middle Kingdom, and most importantly the Sun Coalition." (BM) "How powerful are these factions? I''ve heard of them before but I haven''t quite understood just how powerful they are." (GY) "Let me just give you a quick rundown of the three factions considered the most dangerous in the Chinese community. First up the Yellow Wang Alliance is an interesting case to say the least. Theyonly recently, within the past few hundred years, weren''t part of the top three. They were two lesser factions that merged together to become a powerhouse, but they are still the least powerful of the three." (BM) "A merging of factions? That''s rather interesting." (YF) "Well, don''t think too much about it. It''s a rare occurrence and when it does happen it''s usually among the extremely weak factions. The Wang faction and the Yellow faction merging was a first for two powerful factions to come together. They aren''t common because the majority of the time the leaders of either faction are too selfish and that''s how deals fall through. It worked for them because elders of both sides acted as representatives for their respective factions and they just happened to be brothers in arms." (BM) "That''s amazing. Please tell me about the other two great factions of the Chinese community." (GY) "Next up is the Middle Kingdom faction. This faction is headed by the infamous strategist Wu Qi." (BM) "Wu Qi? He''s considered to be one of the best strategists in all of China''s history." (GY) "...Yes, as I was saying. Wu qi is no slouch when it comes to tactics, in fact he''s leagues above me. That is why he is one of the two current Great elders within the Chinese community. Just this one person alone should give you an idea of how powerful this faction is. Factor in all of the young talent he recruits, and he is even more unbelievable. Yet this faction is not the most powerful." (BM) "Who are the Sun coalition then?" (GY) "The Sun Coalition is headed by another great elder, Sun Tzu. I''m telling you this guy is absolutely insane. Not even Wu Qi can compare to him." (BM) "Sun Tzu.....the guy that wrote the Art of War. There is no doubt in my mind that he will be the biggest obstacle in my path. Wait, I''ve been told that there is supposed to be three great elders. How come there is only two at the moment?" (GY) "It''s about a matter of contribution, skill, and popularity. If you have enough contributions and skill, then everyone in the community will get together and vote on it. There are four people that are closest to that seat right now, but all of them have their own downfalls. Wang Jian, Lian Po, Li Mu, and Bai Qi." (BM) "What? The four most revered strategists during the Warring States period in China''s history? I''m not surprised to be honest, those four have made quite a name for themselves. We worship them like gods back home. What are their downfalls" (GY) "For Wang Jian he may be a great strategist, but he is too secretive and keeps to himself. Therefore he doesn''t have much popularity among the members of the Chinese community. Li Mu is said to be the closest to the great elder seat but his downfall is his tendency to be a cautious individual and therefore doesn''t take any risk when it came to any sims in any situation. Bai Qi is ruthless and therefore is disliked by many. Lian Po is charismatic there''s no doubt about that, However, he takes far too many risks and sometimes they blow up spectacularly in his face." (BM) "That''s quite an interesting point. Which factions do they belong to?" (GY) "They weren''t originally in the same faction, but they teamed up together and they were the ones who managed to merge the Yellow Faction with the Wang Faction. The four of them now co lead the Yellow Wang Alliance. We actually had another great elder before." (YF) "Stop it Guan Yu, you know we aren''t supposed to talk about that." (GY) "Oh calm down Yue Fei, he deserves to know." (BM) "well now you have my full attention." (GY) "Zhuge Liang was once a great elder that was on about Sun Tzu''s level of strategic prowess. However, he was by far more popular and when it was suggested, we had to vote on whether or not Zhuge Liang would become the China Community''s overlord. He was voted in and we actually managed to get quite high up the rankings thanks to him. He did so much for us when he was our overlord. In fact the reason we are even third place right now is all thanks to him. Before that we were usually around 8th or 9th place." (BM) "What do you mean was?" (GY) "One day he just up and vanished, it was a few decades after one of the Death Match tournament. No one knew where he was, no one knew what happened, and no one had an explanation. It''s like he died again." (BM) "As much as I want to keep this conversation going I think that''s enough of that for now. Let''s head over to the auction house and sell our items. Perhaps we could check out some of the other exhibits too." The six of them left Baron''s room and they all headed over to the auction house to sell their goods. This time was different because the presence of two elders made quite a commotion amongst the other shoppers. Just like last time, Baron split up the blueprints, mostly of lower quality but also some higher more advanced blueprints, and the other five members of his faction each began talking to auctioneers. Baron decided to use this time to peruse the exhibits that were already on display. Bronze full Iron armor 2,000 silver coins. Steel pole arm 600 silver coins. Flying guillotine 6,000 silver coins. The flying guillotine caught Baron''s interest. He had heard of this weapon before back on Earth. However, no records existed on how to use it. The best guesses were it was soaked in poison or it was thrown onto someone''s head and with a few tugs the victim would be headless. Hence the name flying guillotine. He asked the nearest auctioneer and received confirmation that it indeed did decapitate someone. Baron was also informed that this was a favorite among the Chinese community as it was an interesting show to say the least. He continued to look through the endless halls of the auction house. Chigiriki a Japanese flail type weapon 800 silver coins. Urumi an Indian sword with multiple whip like blades 1,200 silver coins. Triple edged karambit 1,000 silver coins. There were multiple others but the others returned to Baron and they all went back to their HQ. There they decided that practising just against NPC''s was not a great idea. So they all paired up and went to practice aerial sims against each other. Yue Fei teamed up with Guan Yu, Han Xin with Baron, and Xu Da with Ban Chao. The six of them practiced aerial warfare for the next couple of weeks, and on occasions would switch partners to keep things fresh between them. The ranking among them for this type of battlefield was Guan Yu at the top, Yue Fei in second, followed by Baron, then Han Xin, Ban Chao, and Xu Da. Although they had grown tremendously compared to themselves just a few months ago, they had gotten too accustomed to their friends'' play style. They needed to play sims against new people, with new strategies, and new situations. So they put out a notice rewarding aerial masters 100 silver coins just to participate in a sim against the six of them. Soon, many flocked to do battle. 43 Experience First Hand The reward captivated many strategies to show up to Baron''s HQ. However, many of these people were quite obviously not masters in aerial warfare. So they had to change the way they managed this whole affair. Going by ranking Guan Yu was the best among them while Xu Da was the worst. So they informed everyone that they would first have a sim against Xu Da, then Ban Chao, Han Xin, Baron, Yue Fei, and finally Guan Yu. Only if they won a sim against Xu Da could they advance to Ban Chao and so on. The more they won the more they would get paid. If someone was not able to best Xu Da then they would receive 5 silver coins. It was customary to reward people for taking the time to come here within the Chinese community. If someone bested Xu Da but lost to Ban Chao they would receive 20 silver coins. If they won the first two but lost to Han Xin they would receive 50 silver coins. If they won 4 then they would receive 125 silver coins. If they won 5 then they would get 250 silver coins. If they managed to beat all 6 of Baron''s group then they would receive 500 silver coins. Due to the sheer volume of people that came, there was going to be quite a wait line. All in all of the close to 5,000 that showed up Baron chose to do the people who weren''t well known to have a go at Xu Da first. Some of the more respected strategists were given an explanation and were asked to come back in a month or so. The reason that they wanted to sort through the lesser known people was to see if anybody was even worth Xu Da''s time. For this they decided to use a different approach. All six of them were going to test the unnamed people in the crowd. Baron informed his faction-mates to not go easy on these people, because otherwise they were just wasting everybody''s time. If any of these lesser known strategist was decently good they were to be instructed to come back at a later date. Of the 5,000 that came there were close to 3,500 who weren''t very well known. Of these 3,500 only about 200 were invited back to continue further sims. The 3,300 or so others were given their coins and they went on their way. Baron''s group had spent more than 16,000 on the preliminaries. Just how much would they have to spend on the actual pros of serial warfare. Spending over 20,000 wasn''t just for naught though. The six of them had gathered a lot of useful information from having sims against these guys. First of all, they managed to pick up on who was and who wasn''t a pro just by looking at their first engagement. Second, they also noticed the small little details like how most of them all made the same beginner mistakes. Finally, they were able to pick up some quite interesting fellows, who knows maybe they were good enough to be offered an invitation to be part of Under 1 Banner. The 200 that made it through the month long preliminaries were told to come back at the same time as the well known strategists and from there the actual interesting part began. To not waste any of their time, Baron split up the 1,700 into groups of about 20 and started from there. Baron instructed Xu Da and the others that it didn''t matter if he won or not, what matters is to find out how a more seasoned aerial strategist employs tactics and the like. Of the first 20, 16 made it past Xu Da, 14 made it past Ban Chao, 9 made it past Han Xin, 3 made it past Baron, and none of them made it past Yue Fei. Guan Yu was itching to have a sim so he picked the best out of the the 3 that made it to Yue Fei and they had a batlle. It was close but Guan Yu still managed to win. This was what they did for the rest of the others. All the while making mental notes of what strategies worked, when to use certain strategies, and all the rest. With every new opponent they faced they became more and more familiar with what was preferred within the Chinese community. After several months they had finally gotten through all of the 1,700 aerial strategists. The price they had to pay for them as well as the other group was a staggering 60,000 silver coins. It was a good thing that the items they had sent to be auctioned off covered all of this, because if they didn''t they would have had to pay quite a large sum out of their own pockets. After paying the aerial masters Baron and the five others picked out the 100 best and most courteous out of the 1,700 and asked them if they were willing to come again and have a few more sims at a later date. Compensation included. All of them agreed and everyone left with some gain for their time. Baron, Xu Da, Ban Chao, Han Xin, Yue Fei, and Guan Yu had amassed a lot of experience in sky warfare, even if the way they got it was quite costly. The 3,300 that left with only 5 silver coins could only curse at their inability to perform better, but being as the average yearly wage was less than 100 this was definitely well worth their time. The 1,700 that had some skills were probably the most excited. Playing a few sims to win a hundred or two silver coins? They had never made money that easily before. The statistics were as follows. Of the 1,700, only 15 individuals were able to best all 6 of them. Less than 100 were able to get past Yue Fei but fall to Guan Yu. Only about 400 made it past Baron. There were 600 who made it past Han Xin. Close to 280 of these individuals were considered to be invited back. The other 20 were extremely rude to Baron''s group so they weren''t considered. Of the 280 they were assessed in three categories. First up was skill, then modesty, and finally uniqueness in tactics. Skill should be pretty self explanatory, Baron had no need of people he could already beat, he needed someone that could challenge even Yue Fei or Guan Yu. Secondly, modesty was an important factor because dealing with people who constantly look down on you or anything like that just gets everyone heated up. Lastly, uniqueness was something that Baron informed the others were an extremely important factor. This meant that they were looking for people who could employ tactics that weren''t very conventional, much like Han Xin. If someone could only use strategies that are by the book, they can''t exactly think outside the box. That is a very big boon to a successful strategist. Of these 100 Baron was hoping to recruit a few, but sadly the majority of them already belonged to a faction. Changing factions was allowed, but no faction would be willing to let go of any of their great strategists unless they were properly compensated. So Baron was hoping to recruit one or two of the factionless strategists. After this whole mini aerialtournament, they had undoubtedly attracted quite a bit of attention from everyone. By this point there were already multiple pieces of gossip going around that Baron''s group was investing heavily in the faction selection tournament which was true. Others were blown completely out of proportion like one that involved Baron''s group planning on making an all aerial masters faction. Which is not true. They paid no mind to this and instead began discussing about what they had learned fighting all of these aerial battles. (GY) "I''ve gotta say, most of the people that could beat me did so in a very domineering matter. I can only imagine what those guys did to you guys." (BM) "Let''s not talk about that for now elder Guan Yu. I think we should pool together our wealth of knowledge and see if we can pick up any patterns." (GY) "Fair enough, but I will say. The people who came here to participate are nowhere near the best that our Chinese community has to offer. They do know their stuff, but even the best of them would probably only rank in the top 500 of the best aviation masters here." (BM) "For what we want to achieve they have served their purpose well. We aren''t here to become the absolute best in this field. Rather we should focus on just besting the strategists that the Vesper group has sent to interfere with us in the faction selection tournament. If we can achieve that, then we won''t have to worry about aerial warfare for quite a while." (HX) "Let''s get to work. Fighting sims for months on end with no break has really fuzzied my mind. It''s fun, but a break in between would''ve been nice." (BM) "Next time i''ll arrange for that then." (HX) "Wait, next time?" (BM) "Yes, I hope to get one more of this type of event in before the official tournament. This one took close to half a year, perhaps next time it will be even longer." For the next few days they discussed over and over again what they had learnt from their numerous sims. As time went by their understanding and consensus among the topic began growing and growing. Soon, they would become true masters of this field, but for now they were only one step away from being well known aerial strategists. 44 The Best Naval Strategis Baron decided that laying low was no longer in his best interest. If his goal of ever leading the dominant faction in the Chinese community was to be realized, he needed to make a name for himself. He needed a lot of respect and prestige if he was to win over the populace of China. No matter how he looked at it he eventually would have to stop laying low. With two elders by his side as well as the Forever Pirates as his allies he was pretty well protected. However, just this was nowhere near safe from being suppressed in a multitude of ways. He decided to get informed by Guan Yu about this matter. So they met up at a Winehouse to discuss. (BM) "So elder Guan Yu, tell me how suppression here on planet 4 is like. I''d imagine it''s a bit different from what it is back on Earth." (GY) "Aye, it is different. We can''t exactly suppress a faction by assassinating people anymore. However, suppressing a faction is possible in a few other ways. Like disrupting with a faction''s ability to sell their blueprints. That would be a big blow if done correctly. This isbecause selling blueprints make up nearly half of a faction''s revenue. The rest come from tournament tournament prizes as well as business deals from other factions." (BM) "Is there any other way to suppress a faction?" Baron said as he drank a bowl of white wine. (GY) "Of course there are, but none of them are as effective as disrupting trade. I suppose the next best way to suppress a faction would be to convince a faction''s member to willingly leave. Either by compensation or some other cheap gesture." (BM) "I see. Well let''s hope that we won''t have to think about this anytime soon." (GY) "I''ll cheer to that." (BM) "Cheers." Baron said as the two clinked bowls and downed the wine. There was much for Baron to think about. Mainly how to get himself, Han Xin, Xu Da, and Ban Chao into elder seats. Han Xin definitely had the skill to become one, Baron was sorta there, but the other two still needed time and training. So he decided to bring the four of them to have a brainstorming session. (BM) "So guys, if we want to become the best faction out there we need to start by amassing fame and prestige. One of the best ways to do that is by becoming elders. Of course, if you all don''t want to become elders that''s fine. Speak now so I know." (HX) "The reason that I didn''t want to become an elder was because I had no reason to add extra responsibilities to my life. After the life i lead back on Earth ended I just felt like taking it easy for awhile was the best course of action for my mental health. However, now that I have a reason to become an elder, I will put my all into becoming one." (BM) "Well said Han Xin. Anyone else?" (BC) "Becoming an elder is not exactly something that I had thought about before. Similar to Han Xin I wanted to take a breather for a bit. I''ve got to say though. Just being a wanderer of sorts these past few years has really given me a new perspective of just how a life should be lived. A life should have purpose, meaning, and most of all surrounding yourself with good friends and reliable allies. Of course, I never neglected to keep my mind as sharp as possible." (BM) "That is also a splendid speech. Xu Da, your thoughts?" (XD) "I''m not sure I want to go down that route. I just don''t think it''s necessarily for me." (BM) "Is there a particular reason?" (XD) "No not really, maybe it''s just because I don''t have the same drive as you all have.I''ll still support Under 1 Banner with everything I have, but becoming an elder is just not in my best interest." (BM) "It''s good that you''re telling us this now. Don''t worry about it then, you will still have an important part to play in the faction." (XD) "Count me in." Xu Da said and left the discussion room as he had no other business with his allies for the time being. (BM) "Han Xin, Ban Chao. You guys have been here a lot longer than I have. How do we become elders as soon as possible?" (HX) "It''s not as easy as you make it out to be. Take Yue Fei for example. Unlike the two of us, he had decided to work on becoming an elder the very moment he stepped onto planet 4. He worked his way up steadily and even with his great talent he took more than a thousand years to become an elder. It''s just not possible within such a short amount of time unless you are extremely skilled in a certain area like Madam Zheng." (BM) "You mean to say that Madam Zheng''s skill was badly needed correct? Since our naval strategists aren''t exactly on par with the other countries/" (BC) "You certainly have done quite a bit of research. You are correct, but we didn''t need her skills as badly as you say we did. We could make do with the few great naval strategists we had, but we weren''t overly dominating in that field as compared to the likes of the Greeks or the British." (BM) "Is that so? Then who is considered the top naval strategist in the Chinese community?" (HX) "It''s a bit of a controversial subject at the moment, but it would have to be Madam Zheng plus her two husbands." (BM) "Oh they''ve got the same surname in mandarin, that''s interesting. To the best of my knowledge though Zheng He was given his surname Zheng by the emperor. As for Madam Zheng''s case she married into the Zheng Family. So they probably didn''t have any blood relations." (HX) "Yes, while that may be the case. Both of them are going at each others throats right now as if they were siblings. In fact, the Vesper group that is suppressing the Forever Pirates are actually headed by Zheng He. He is not happy that he is beneath Madam Zheng when it comes to naval warfare, so using his much older, much richer faction he is suppressing her faction." (BM) "Ah so that''s how it is. Zheng He is quite the diplomat, I''m amazed to see him on planet 4 and not on any of the other planets." (HX) "I''m not sure about that but he is a very vengeful person, that reminds me. We are now fairly well off for the naval portion, but our aerial strategists are still a bit lacking in terms of quantity and quality. So if any of us could obtain a super modern military aircraft blueprint then we might be able to shoot up the ranks about as quickly as Madam Zheng." (BM) "Military aircraft? Unfortunately I don''t have any. I mainly focused on land and sea machines when I was doing my research. If only my friend Jaxon was here, we would be a lot better off." (HX) "Who is this Jaxon fellow?" (BM) "He was an absolutely mediocre and tepid strategist, but he sure was passionate about planes. Knew a great deal about them too. We''re getting off topic, for now we should focus on improving our standing with the Chinese community. What''s the best way to do that?" (BC) "Auctioning off blueprints would be fastest. Then the next best would be to take on a multitude of different tasks for the community. I would say this second one might even work out a bit better for us since two of our members are already elders. We can just tag along with them when they do the tasks that improves your standing the most." (HX) "Yes that works, but keep in mind that if you become an elder this way many people will look down on you as if you bribed your way to the top. Of course, that isn''t to say that none of the current elders got their ticket in using this method." (BM) "The politics and diplomacy around here just gets more complicated the more I hear about it. Let''s decide on what our course of action should be." (BC) "I believe two of us should tag along with Guan Yu and Yue Fei when they do some of the higher ranking tests and the other one will make blueprints or practice simulations on a sort of rotational basis." (HX) "That idea''s not bad. However, I think we should only tag along with Yue Fei and Guan Yu up until the point where we are allowed to test the newcomers of planet 4." (BM) "Oh, that must be what Yue Fei was doing to me when I first got here." (HX) "That is correct. You should count yourself lucky that you didn''t encounter someone else." (BM) "Why''s that?" (HX) "Most of the upper echelon aren''t nice people. Sure they may seem welcoming and thoughtful, but you should be wary of them. They all have hidden agendas." (BM) "I see. Well, let''s go with that then. I think that is a brilliant idea. Let''s go inform Guan Yu and Yue Fei and we can get started soon." 45 Meng Yi and Meng Tian Duo Han Xin, Guan Yu, Yue Fei, Baron, and Ban Chao all met up to discuss the matter of advancing to elders. Baron briefed Yue Fei and Guan Yu on what the three of them had reached a conclusion on. (BM) "Basically, we want to follow you two when you do your tasks. What do you two think?" (YF) "Smooching off of us? Normally I wouldn''t go for it since such matters aren''t relevant to me, but now that I''m part of Under 1 Banner why not?" (GY) "I am also of that mindset. However, becoming an elder before the faction selection tournament that''s going to be in a few decades time will not be an easy task. If you guys are lucky, then maybe one or more of you will make it to the quasi-elder position. They are also ranked, but they are ranked from 101 to 1000. Below us elders of course." (YF) "Maybe if you are lucky enough you will make it to the elder stage within a century, just like Madam Zheng." (BM) "The more I hear of her achievements the more accomplished she seems. She is definitely a great ally to have." (HX) "Still remember what you have been warned Baron. You may be using her for her benefits, but she is also milking you for all that you have as well." (BM) "I understand, no need to worry." (GY) "Let''s get back to the matter at hand. A rotational system with me and Yue Fei does work, but the two of us have to practice on aerial sims as well. We can''t just neglect it, even if it helps all of us in the long run." (BM) "What you say is true. That''s why I believe it is best if you two are also on a rotational system where you do tasks for a few months then practice sims for a few months." (YF) "Personally me and Guan Yu will benefit the least out of this, but if it''s for the betterment of our faction then I will do it." (GY) "As will I." (BM) "Now that that has been decided I think it''s best if we get started immediately. Who knows? Maybe Guan Yu and Yue Fei will shoot up a few ranks in the elders ranking as well." (YF) "I really hope so. The higher rank I get the more people will respect me. That way I can right so many more wrongs." The group split up into 3 groups. One consisting of Baron. Another with Guan Yu and Han Xin. The last with Han Xin and Yue Fei. Baron started on blueprints yet again, while the other two groups started job hunting for the best contracts. The contracts came from two places. One from the official Chinese community, and the other came from various factions. The safest contracts in terms of being paid out and getting contribution points would naturally come from the Chinese community. However, the contracts from various factions often paid a lot more, even if they were a bit riskier in getting rewarded. The four began their search and set out immediately once they found a suitable contract. Xu Da wasn''t present, but he understood that he was the least skilled out of the bunch. Therefore, he dedicated the majority of his time to focus on becoming better at aerial warfare. He may not be as impressive as the others, but he did have a resource that none of the others had. He had many, many, many connections. The very moment he got to planet 4 he knew just how important reputations were. So he shielded himself by befriending many big names. He prided himself with having many powerful allies. Xu Da called many of them up and asked if they knew any great aerial strategists that they could send his way. There were many offers but few could satisfy what he needed. Yet he kept on trying, even contacting people who he hasn''t spoken to in many centuries. After a few days of meeting his old pals he was finally introduced to someone who would be able to teach him some aerial manoeuvres that would be considered high risk high reward. Xu Da kept this little exchange between himself and his new mentor a secret. For now, getting stronger in the aerial aspect of warfare was the most important. After he had learnt all he needed to he would share the knowledge with his faction mates. Or perhaps have a sim against them would be better. The six of them continued on with their goals and in no time several months had passed. Han Xin, Baron, and Ban Chao were slowly rising through the ranks. In the elder rankings Yue Fei moved up 2 ranks while Guan Yu moved up 1. They attracted some attention, but not enough for some of the bigwigs to move. With this abundant amount of time, they had all improved in their own rights. However, during this time they were still in a sort of bottleneck on the aerial map they had been practicing on consisting of a less than 100 vs 2,000 aircraft dogfight. They had tried everything they could think of, but the most enemies they could take down still at about 1,600. Around this time was when Xu Dafinished his training with his mentor and after several months of being away from the HQ he finally returned. The moment he returned he was greeted by the sight of Baron cooking up another blueprint, and from the looks of it not just any simple one either. (BM) "Hey brother Xu Da, where have you been these past few months? We haven''t heard a peep out of you, not even a warning." (XD) "I''ve been getting lessons in the art of aerial warfare. A friend introduced me to a semi master. He''s taught me quite a bit and I think I have the answer to our bottleneck problem." (BM) "How confident are you in your solution?" (XD) "Confident enough that I went into the sim myself, with the help of an elder, and I managed to take out 1,850 enemy aircrafts." (BM) "You didn''t spread the word about our little secret map have you?" (XD) "No of course not. I would never do something as foolish as that." (BM) "Good. I''ll send the word out to the others to meet up back at HQ and then you can share your discovery with all of us." Within a day all six of them met up under the same roof again. The past six months they would rarely get to see each other. This was a nice little reunion of sorts. (BM) "Alright everybody, Xu Da has taken lessons from a semi aerial master. He believes that what he has been taught can be really beneficial to all of us. Go ahead," (XD) "Hello brothers, long time no see. These past few months must have been hard on you all, grinding away for those contribution points. Anyway, the semi master that taught me sure knew his stuff. Not only did he teach me about grand manoevres that needs to be set up right from the beginning of the sim, he also taught me a bunch of little lesser tidbits that could help us in the long run." (BC) "Who is this strategist that you speak so highly of?" (XD) "It''s actually not just one person that mentored me, it''s two. Meng Tian and Meng Yi is their names." (BM) "I remember them, they are brothers that lived around the founding of the Qin unification wars. Not super well known, but they must be quite the pair if they are considered semi masters." (BC) "That''s exactly it. These two are perhaps some of the most adaptable strategists I have ever seen. Their blueprint arsenal is huge, and they always seem to know the best way to counter anything I do." (BM) "Perhaps the two of them are just more adaptable in the air than the average strategist. So tell us about how you managed to shoot down 1,850 enemy planes? I''m dying to know." (BC) "The strategy that they recommended for an attack like this was to not solely rely on planes. They said that it would be best if we had some ground units that could shoot down planes as well. Sadly I don''t have any such blueprints." (BM) "Oh what a coincidence I just finished a few blueprints that might do the trick. I believe Flak cannons, autocannons, and perhaps best of all the Man-Portable Air Defence Systems (MANPADS) will be useful for us. These are rather basic models and therefore not the best. However, if enough research and development is done, then we should be bale to upgrade these to weapons suitable for our needs." (GY) "I''ve heard of Flak cannons and autocannons, but I''ve never heard of MANPADS. What are those things?" (BM) "Basically they are shoulder launching surface to air missiles that are usually guided by technology." 46 Battle at Phillippine Sea (BM) "I know that getting the help of these masters is no easy task. How did you manage it?" (XD) "I used my contacts to get me in touch with these guys. A lot of people owe me favours, that''s why I was able to get introduced to this pair at all." (BM) "I''m glad it''s just that. How about you show us what you''ve learnt. Want to go against one of us in a sim?" (XD) "I think that would be the best way to show you guys." (BC) "I want to see just how much you''ve improved. Let me have a go with you." (XD) "Let''s do it brother." Xu Da and Ban Chao both got out the sim helmets and began to select the settings. They decided to pick a stage where they were both familiar with. It was a common aerial setting to go on when practicing with someone. It was the battle of Philippine Sea. This battle would pit Japan against the United States. Japan had 11 carriers with about 750 total aircraft available to them. Against them were close to 950 US aircraft and 15 carriers. Both sides also had multiple smaller ships and a few submarines as well. Though the advantage in numbers belonged to the US, the flexibility that the Japanese aircrafts allowed them to make the calls the majority of the time. In terms of skill of pilots the Japanese did not have many since they had lost a few of their best men in earlier wars such as Midway and Coral Sea. This was the largest carrier vs carrier battle that Earth has ever seen Ban Chao would be on the American side while Xu Da would guide the Japanese fleet. Baron, Han Xin, Guan Yu and Yue Fei all entered the sim as spectators. Baron knew that the actual battle took only two days to carry out, but there was no time limit during the sims taking out the need for urgency on both sides. With this factor gone, both Xu Da and Ban Chao could focus on the big picture instead of rushing everything. Generally, this map was used to test how well strategists performed if they couldn''t make use of their blueprints. This way levelled put the playing field for many strategists looking to prove themselves to their seniors. Also it helped that many these ships and aircraft had sensor technologies that could detect when and where enemies could be coming from. These reasons are what made this particular setting so popular to the masses. The preparation time was only about a month. Mainly because it wasn''t very necessary to build anything and more so used to develop a strategy to beat your opponent in. Certainty in war is never a given. There was one huge advantage that the American side had, and that was that compared to the Japanese they were constantly adding more and more ships and planes to their arsenal even without Ban Chao doing anything. Xu Da could not let this battle drag on for too long. Or else enemy reinforcements would surely be his defeat. It wasn''t as if Xu Da didn''t have any other advantages either. He had the superior range in his aircraft, and multiple land based aircraft that could deliver punishment to Ban Chao without receiving any. Though the easterly wind was in his favor, he still needed much preparation before being able to be confident in his victory. The preparation time went by quickly with Ban Chao reorganizing his men while Xu Da went about frantically trying to improve the individual strength of all of his men through training and practice runs. The time for battle begins now. On the first day of battle Ban Chao made an unprecedented move and split up his fleet into 20 or so different groups and sent a few of them to do battle with many of the islands under Xu Da''s control. This tactic confused the heck out of Xu Da. Not only did Ban Chao just target a few random islands, but he actually chose the islands to the northernmost and southernmost points. Xu Da knew that his islands couldn''t hold under this amount of pressure. However, if he sent his own detachments to reinforce his islands then that would be effectively giving Ban Chao what he wanted. If he didn''t address this matter soon, then it was possible for Ban Chao to pincer Xu Da in three directions. Such tactics were not uncommon on planet 4, but it was overly effective for a map such as this. Xu Da had a dilemma in his hands. He gave it a quick ponder and decided to retreat his entire fleet further into his territory and send reinforcements from there. This manoeuvre took a few days to complete and by the time he repelled the American forces sent in to pincer him he had already taken a bit of casualties. Unfortunately, this was the best outcome he could hope for given what his enemy had forced him into. There wasn''t any movements from either side for a few days until out of the blue Xu Da dedicated over half of his fleet to a frontal assault right up to the edge of his home defenses. Then he startedto bombard Ban Chao with his assortment of missiles, torpedoes, and whatever else he had. Few of these ever managed to hit Ban Chao''s fleet, but this was more of a challenge than actually dealing any major damage. Ban Chao could have ignored this obvious taunt, but the temptation was too overwhelming and he sent in close to three quarters of his fleet to engage with Xu Da. Xu Da had expected Ban Chao would make such a move, so he orderedboth of his armies to getprepared for combat. The first fleet would engage with the bulk of Ban Chao''s fleet and distract them long enough for the second fleet to destroy their target. Xu Da would be going along with the first fleet so as to minimize losses. The two forces met in the middle of the day and a fierce battle of the sea and air ensued. With Xu Da and Ban Chao both at the helm of this engagement, victory would not be swift. Many, many hours passed and with it the lives of many. At the end of the day both sides called for a ceasefire since continuing on would entail uncertainty. During the night, Ban Chao''s second fleet rendezvoused at their primary focus, the largest shipbuilding yard in all of the US. The Kaiser Shipyards located in Richmond California. There were a few ships defending these shipyards, but how could they compare to close to half of Xu Da''s fleet? By the time Ban Chao learned of this incident it was already too late. Although Ban Chao had multiple other shipyards this was still quite a blow to him. With this successful destruction of the enemy shipyard, Xu Da immediately ordered them to split up and return back to the main fleet. Ban Chao was not very keen on letting this opportunity slip so he sent out his reserves and sent them to chase down Xu Da''s men. Xu Da was not so foolish as to believe that his men could all make it back to base. So he had already set up multiple ambushes for Ban Chao''s men to encounter along the way. He even sent the majority of his submarines in his main fleet to help assist the ones returning home. The second day began with high morale for Xu Da''s men for a myriad of reasons. First, Ban Chao''s fleet had effectively lost close to half of all the reinforcements they would get in the near future. Another reason was that the ambushes that Xu Da had set up for Ban Chao had worked like a charm. Perhaps the biggest reason though was because of the news that Xu Da would begin to make reforms to the fleet. They had all seen within the past few days of fighting how inefficient their current formations, therefore a change was needed. There was no way that Ban Chao would give up his attack if he ever caught wind of this. Therefore, Xu Da had to make the plans to reform in secret while only giving news of it to his men. This way, no one would be able to guess when he would initiate the change and because of it be at his weakest. With the destruction of the Kaiser shipyards Xu Da had a little more breathing space to drag the battle out for a bit longer. However, this wouldn''t last forever speed was still of the essence. The second day saw an interesting point of difference from the first. Xu Da split up his entire fleet into three and the biggest one retreated before first light even came out. Xu Da had decided to reform this group first. Another way to buy time was the order that he gave the other two fleets. They were told to launch as many smokescreens as they could in their direction and proceed to fight in this way. Both sides had sensor technologies sure, but it wasn''t advanced enough to tell the distance between two objects enough to land a direct hit so the battle that ensued was confusing for all parties involved. The casualties during the second day of battle were less than the first day. 47 Battle at Phillipine Sea part 2 Ban Chao had just heard news of Xu Da taking the risk of reorganizing. With this in mind Ban Chao had no worries anymore and completely redid his battle plan and focused mainly on taking out as many of Xu Da''s forces. Just as the two forces were about to clash there was a large smokescreen enveloping all parties involved. Then, Ban Chao heard numerous explosions ring out in the vicinity of the ships around him. This was quite odd considering the ship he was in was near the back of his overall forces and usually no one would target this area. Then Ban Chao realized something he had overlooked the previous day. This was Xu Da''s turf, so how come Xu Da didn''t deploy his home defenses on the surrounding islands the day before? It was to lull Ban Chao into underestimating Xu Da''s forces and such a simple tactic worked. Caught up by this sudden barrage, Ban Chao was slow in sending out forces to deal with the home defenses he had disregarded. This two hour period of confusion was more than enough time for Xu Da to reorganize and the newly organized fleet was making it''s way back to the other fleet. The key difference between the new and old fleets was the ability to harmonize and support each other. This formation was taught to Xu Da by the Meng Duo and Xu Da had seen just how terrifying such a formation could devastate the enemy. After a few more hours of fighting Ban Chao realized just how big of a difference in effectiveness the two opposing fleets were and decided to momentarily retreat a few hundred kilometers. Xu Da knew when to quit when he was ahead and decided to call it a day as well. The overwhelming amount of superiority they showed over their opponents was very inspiring to Xu Da''s men. It was just before the last light of day when he received some ill omens. (M) "Admiral, our recon air force has nearly been wiped out by enemy forces." The messenger quickly briefed Xu Da. (XD) "Is this done by Ban Chao?" (M) "Likely, one of the pilots managed to send us some information before he was shot out of the sky." (XD) "Is Ban Chao planning a night raid? They lost three carriers today alone and multiple ships plus military aircraft, should they not be coming up with another strategy?" (M) "I wouldn''t know about that sir, the pilot said that it seemed like close to a quarter of the enemy''s forces were making their way to the Philippines in a manner that made them not encounter our forces." (XD) "The Philippines? Hmm, we don''t have any strategic position there that should arouse their interest, what could they be after?" Xu Da thought for a hard moment until he realized just what it was. "Tawi Tawi, our supply depot and our secret refueling station. Quick how many of our ships are docked at Tawi Tawi?" (M) "I believe I heard the captain say about 8 or so ships? One of them is a heavy carrier." (XD) "Tell the captain to take 5 ships and set out to pincer this fleet. Also warn the ships at Tawi tawi to get prepared for battle. This is likely the last ditch attempt by Ban Chao to deal some damage to us." (M) "Yes sir." As the messenger left quickly to carry out his orders, Xu Da gave commands to the rest of his fleet. All submarine and aircraft units were to set out and spread out tens of kilometers into any direction. baron had an inkling of idea on what Ban Chao would be planning. Ban Chao planned to use the rest of his forces to attack Xu Da in the night to catch Xu Da off guard. Too bad night raids were Xu Da''s new interest. He had learned of this new interest when he was practicing sims against the Meng duo and his unique style really surprised his mentors. With those two teaching Xu Da the basics as well as some more advanced tactics, Xu Da became more and more proficient in night raids. Just as he had predicted, the enemy fleet came in guns blazing within an hour. This time was different than the day clash that they had had just hours earlier. For one, Ban Chao''s fleet was structured in a way that didn''t allow Xu Da''s ships nor planes to escape. The light and heavy carriers, or whats left of it, surrounded Xu Da''s ships. Many ships were periodically placed behind these carriers so that even if something escaped, they would be picked off rather easily. Something else that''s different was that Xu Da''s home defenses couldn''t attack Ban Chao''s ships in the black of night so they were of no help at present. It was a good thing that Xu Da sent out all his submarines and aircraft earlier. With a wave of the hand, these military machines came back to splendidly pincer the enemy. This unexpected double barrage of torpedoes and bombers from the flank completely caught Ban Chao off guard. Once again he reacted too late and his losses were once again steep. The battle raged on for the entire night and by the morning the victor was clear. The majority of Ban Chao''s forces were destroyed while Xu Da still had a few good ships left to fight. Excluding the ships at Tawi Tawi, Ban Chao was done for. The news of Tawi Tawi reached Ban Chao first and he was depressed to find out that his men had failed to destroy the ships there. It wasn''t like he could win even if his men did succeed. After all, Xu Da had shown his superiority in thewater and air. Ban Chao could not compete. This was how the simulation ended and everyone was astonished to see this result. This sudden increase in Xu Da''s strategic prowess was shocking to say the least. (BM) "Color me impressed Xu Da. You have improved quite a bit. These mentors of yours sure know their stuff. I wonder if we can invite them to get a few sims through. I don''t think these two participated in our mini tournament we had a few months back." (XD) "These two are just a step away from becoming aerial masters, what use would they have for a few measly silver coins?" (BM) "That''s true, any master can earn hundreds of times more just by doing official tournaments. Can you invite these two over Xu Da?" (GY) "I think I speak for the rest of us when I say we''d all like to meet this Meng Duo, and perhaps exchange a few blows if possible. It''s not everyday that we can get such a good opportunity." (XD) "I don''t know guys, these two like to stay in recluse. Heck, these two left their faction because they disliked the people there. And the people there included their father and grandfather." (BM) "Just try please Xu Da. This could be a really great chance for all of us to improve. We trust your skill ,but these two are true geniuses that we could benefit a lot off of." (XD) "Alright, but I''ll warn you. I still haven''t paid these two for their service so that might be a factor in their decision making." (BM) "Just payment? Give them my regards and tell them I have a proposal that might benefit all of us greatly." (XD) "You got it." The next few days went by relatively quiet as they anticipated the return of Xu Da and the news that he bears. Then one day, Xu Da came by the HQ with two handsome and young looking fellows. These two had their family name Meng tattooed onto their left arms. Though they looked like thugs with their stature they exuberated confidence and intelligence. These two were the genius Meng brothers, Meng Tian (older) and Meng Yi (younger). (MT) "Hello there fellow Chinamen. How do you do? We are the Meng duo." (BM) "Greetings, esteemed masters. I am Baron, I''m sure Xu Da has told you about me. Have you given any thought to my proposal?" (MT) "Yes, I hear you''ve got quite the library of blueprints up in your head. I would like to see if there is anything of interest to me." (BM) "Excellent, will it just be you and me or will your brother be joining us?" (MT) "Just you and me. Meng Yi, go ahead and have a few sims against these guys. This could take quite a while." Yue Fei and Guan Yu both approached Meng Yi for a sim and Meng Yi decided it was best if these two would team up to go against him. Guan Yu and Yue Fei were the best aerial strategists under Baron, yet they had no idea just how big the gap between them and an actual master was. They figured this would be the perfect time to properly test their abilities. Meng Tian and Baron entered a separate room and sat down to discuss and see if they could work out some kind of deal. 48 The Deal Before Baron began talking to Meng Tian, one half of the Meng Duo, he wasn''t sure how the deal was going to go. He took a chance regardless and spoke after both of them had sat down. (BM) "Master Meng Tian, I sincerely thank you and your brother for taking the time out of your busy lifestyle to mentor Xu Da. His growth in air tactics and other areas have drastically improved." (MT) "Oh it''s not too big of a deal, but I have heard a little about you though. The rumours have been spreading for quite a while now." (BM) "There are just so many rumours going on within the Chinese community that I don''t really keep track of them. Which ones might you be talking about?" (MT) "Oh there''s loads about you out there. How you managed to best the elder Yue Fei on your first day of coming to Planet 4. Although elder Yue Fei was going easy on you that is no small feat for anyone." (BM) "Oh haha, you flatter me. There was a bit of luck involved in that." (MT) "You''re being too modest. There''s also rumors of you planning on creating a faction that involves two elders. Seeing as Guan Yu and Yue Fei out there challenging my younger brother I suppose that rumour is more or less confirmed. Tell me though, who is going to lead the faction?" (BM) "We have this planned out so Han Xin and Yue Fei will become co leaders. While Guan Yu will be an advisor of sorts." (MT) "I''m quite surprised that Guan Yu, and Yue Fei would even consider joining a faction, much less be interested in creating one. Whoever convinced them must have had quite the bargaining chip." (BM) "What you say is true. Sorry to disappoint you but it was mostly the work of Han Xin. Han Xin had been long time friends of these two and they were glad to join since it was him." Baron said while trying to not let panicked set in on his face. He felt the need to give Meng Tian the partial truth since he wasn''t familiar with Meng Tian yet. (MT) "Oh is that so? I see, I had thought that it was you that had started this whole thing. Enlighten me, what is the name of your faction if you guys win the tournament?" (BM) "It will be named Under 1 Banner." (MT) "Oh? With a name like that it seems you guys have an even deeper meaning behind your name." (BM) "What could you possibly mean?" Baron asked feigning ignorance. (MT) "Keep your secrets if that''s what you want. I''m here today to work out a deal with you." (BM) "Yes, we still need to compensate you for giving Xu Da some lessons in aerial warfare. I''m going to assume that since you didn''t come when we had that mini tournament you aren''t interested in coins?" (MT) "Yes, very perceptive of you. Me and my brother prefer useful blueprints rather than coins. We deal with aerial sims most of the time so if you could give us the radio blueprint that you gave Xu Da and something else I think we can call it even." (BM) "How direct of you." (MT) "I don''t like to waste time even if I do have the rest of time to live." (BM) "The radio that i gave to Xu Da will not be a problem. However, there is something else I have that will definitely pique your interest, but you will have to do something else for us when the time comes." (MT) "Well, you certainly have gotten my attention. What is this blueprint you speak of?" (BM) "A radar tower along with radar technology small enough to put onto any aircraft." (MT) "You have something so precious? I''m not even sure anyone within the Chinese community has the latter. How did you come by such a treasure?" (BM) "Back in my world, they called me the wikipedia of warfare." (MT) "I have absolutely no idea what that means." (BM) "I know how to build a lot the instruments of war. More so than anyone at my time." (MT) "Interesting, so what do you want me to pay for this priceless blueprint." (BM) "We want you to participate in the faction selection tournament with us as well as train us for a couple of decades. After that you are free to leave our faction. What do you say? You might even learn one of our secrets." (MT) "Give me some time to think." (BM) "Take your time, you have until your brother finishes his sim to decide. Speaking of which, Xu Da will take my place as your company. I''d really like to see how our best two aerial strategists compare to your brother alone. Excuse my absence." Baron left the room to go spectate the sim while Xu Da took his place. (XD) "What are your thoughts on this?" (MT) "Just as you say, the blueprints that he has in his mind truly are endless. He just knows what will get me to cave in to his demands. In this case he made it benefit me more than him. A one time deal to help him out and a bit of tutelage in exchange for 1 priceless blueprint and 2 relatively rare blueprints?" (XD) "Yes, he does know how to bargain. So what do you say? Are you in?" (MT) "This offer is too attractive, I don''t think I can refuse. My brother won''t like it, but i''m sure he will understand where i''m coming from. How is Meng Yi faring against elder Guan Yu, and elder Yue Fei?" (XD) "Last I saw, those two were at best pressuring Meng Yi, impressive considering their opponent but nowhere near enough to actually defeat him in battle." (MT) "How could they? Those two elders don''t have anywhere near the experience that my brother has. Once aerial battles were introduced me and my brother were stagnant in land and sea battle. So we had decided to only focus on aerial battles from then on. Now we are stagnant in this type of warfare as well. Baron could truly be the one to help us fly higher than we ever did before." (XD) "Wow, I had no idea. I know it''s rather rude of me to ask, but why did you two run away from your faction again?" (MT) "Our father is an elder within the Chinese community. We were never his equal in land based sims. So when air sims were introduced and we started to take an interest in it he was furious about it so we just left. That was about 200 or so years ago, since then we have made quite a name for ourselves in the aerial warfare space." The two talked for a bit longer until Baron entered the room again with a smile on his face. (XD) "What''s gotten into you?" (BM) "Guan Yu and Yue Fei nearly beat Meng Yi." (MT) "Really? What happened?" (BM) "Your brother got a bit careless and made a major flaw in judgement. Guan Yu and Yue Fei capitalized on this mistake and nearly ended it then and there. However, your brother was too resourceful and managed to come back from such a devastating blow to his fleet. That was a spectacular simulation if I ever saw one." (MT) "My brother is not one to make mistakes. He intentionally did that to lull the two elders into committing everything they had into one attack." (BM) "Then your brother takes quite the big risks. Have you made your decision yet?" (MT) "Yes, I accept your offer." Meng Tian said just as his brother walked into the room. (MY) "What offer?" Meng Yi said in surprise. (MT) "We''ll talk about it later, for now just trust me when I say that this is better for us." (MY) "Alright, I''ll trust you." (BM) "Good, now that we have that settled i''ll give you this radar tower blueprint now, and the others later." Baron said as he handed Meng Tian a blueprint. (MT) "Thank you, we will be back in a few days, then we can truly begin." (BM) "I look forward to it." The Meng duo said their farewells and left immediately. Within a few days they returned with some of their belongings. The members of Under 1 Banner welcomed them warmly. All of them got ready to practice sims until Baron reminded them of something. (BM) "The greatest blueprint auction within the Chinese community is happening in less than a year. We need to produce as much high rarity blueprints as we can. Sorry to say, we must focus on the sims after this event." (MT) "Even us?" (BM) "That will be up to you two. As for us, we are running a bit short on faction funds. We plan on making as much coins out of this event as we possibly can. This way we can also increase our contribution points too. Two birds with one stone." (MT) "I see, we might as well do it too. We are also getting low on funds. We have acquired many blueprints since the last time we sold anything. This will be a good chance to make some coin." 49 The Setup of the Great Auction The one month that the eight of them had to practice together was quite the bonding experience.Meng Tian and Meng Yi had mainly been in each other''s presence for the better part of the last few centuries. They had long since forgotten the joys of having great battles with new brothers. It was an exhilarating experience for everyone involved. All of them got used to each other''s fighting style and although the Meng duo was still far above even Guan Yu, all of them were improving at a steady pace. The month quickly flew by and the Great Auction had officially started. They rushed over to the building that held this grand event a day before the event started. (BM) "This is quite the fancy place that holds this event." (MT) "You haven''t been here very long, so I can understand why you don''t know who this belongs to. This building is a subsidiary HQ that the greatest faction, the Sun Coalition, uses to host events." (BM) "This is just a subsidiary HQ? This place is bigger than ours by at least 20 times! And I thought our HQ was already quite roomy. The Sun Coalition sure has quite a lot of money to spend." (BC) "This HQ is second in size only to the Sun Coalition''s main HQ. The other factions can''t even compare. This shows you just how big the disparity is between the three great factions." (BM) "Who decides who gets to host such a big event?" (GY) "It''s just the biggest faction is the one that''s permitted to host. There are huge benefits to this too. Networking, charging rent from the sellers, even taking a cut of all profits made. Every other faction can only drool at the thought of it." (BM) "That''s amazing, no wonder the Sun Coalition is the mightiest faction. I had not thought of this before. Can we set up anywhere?" (GY) "No unfortunately. We will have to get our blueprints inspected first. There are five places where we can set up shop. Location one is for vip''s and super expensive items are. You need to get approval from someone in the Sun Coalition if you aren''t very well known to sell blueprints there. All the way to location five where the most common blueprint is fairly rare." (BM) "Oh I get it. You have to be serious in making profits since this event will likely have many rich strategists looking for a bargain." (GY) "Exactly, on a good day auctioning off a rare blueprint might take a couple days. That time gets reduced to nothing since you are selling yourself here." (BM) "So where should we go now? To get our goods checked out?" (YF) "Precisely, there should be quite a lineup though. It''s just over here, I''ve been to quite a few of these. There is always something that catches my eye. Follow me." The Meng duo, Baron, Han Xin, Guan Yu, Ban Chao, Yue Fei and Xu Da made their way to line up in one of over 100 lines. There was an endless flow of bodies waiting to get their goods checked before they were allowed to go to their determined location. An endless chattering filled the air for hours. The eight of them that belonged to Under 1 Banner stood in line for a couple minutes before Yue Fei realized something." (YF) "Wait, what is the most advanced blueprint that are we going to sell?" (XD) "Repeating crossbow along with a few other lesser inventions." (HX) "I''ll be selling quite a few of my Mark 1 tanks since Baron has given me the Mark 7 tank also...." (YF) "That''s it! Follow me everyone." Xu Da got out of the line and headed for another room with 2 burly men standing there looking menacing. (BM) "Wait what are you doing! Yue Fei." (YF) "We will be able to bypass the line if at least one of our blueprints are advanced enough. A Mark 1 tank definitely fits that bill." The rest looked at each other and followed Yue Fei closely behind. They got to the 2 guards and Yue Fei began talking to one of them. (YF) "Ah, little Ming. How are you?" (LM) "Oh? Elder Yue Fei, and is that elder Guan Yu behind you? I thought he doesn''t ever come to these things." (YF) "We managed to get him to come this time, listen. Can you inspect this blueprint and determine which location we can get to?" Yue Fei said while nudging Han Xin to give his tank blueprint for Little Ming to inspect. (LM) "Elder Yue Fei, you are an old friend of mine. You helped me when I had to defend for myself. I would do anything to repay your kindness. Let''s see here... Wow, this is quite the high tech blueprint that you guys got here." As little Ming said this, the other guard took notice and looked over to see what kind of blueprint that little Ming was praising. He saw and just scoffed and then turned to look away. Baron was the only one that saw what happened and dismissed it quite quickly. After all, he didn''t expect the Mark 1 Tank to be that high tech either. (LM) "This is quite good. With this type of blueprint I can allow you to go to the second location. You are selling more than just this one blueprint right?" (YF) "Yes of course. Some of the others are even better than this one that we just showed you." The other guard''s ears perked up. (LM) "Good good, come over here while I do all the necessary paperwork." Little Ming did everything in a matter of minutes and gave each of them a little badge with L2 on it. Proof that these guys were allowed to be in location 2. (LM) "I just need to know which faction you guys belong to." (YF) "We aren''t part of an official faction yet." (LM) "I''m sorry then, for location two and location one you must be part of a recognized faction to enter." (YF) "Oh that must be why I''ve only ever been allowed into location 3,4, and 5 before." Meng Tian heard this and grabbed into his coat to reveal a little badge that had the letters M.O.M on it. He handed it over to Little Ming without a word, Little Ming understood exactly what Meng Tian had intended and just gave him a little nod. (LM) "Alright. Everything is all set. You may enter into location two now." (YF) "Uhhhh, thank you. It was nice meeting you again little Ming." (LM) "It''s always a pleasure to help you out." They said their farewells and started walking towards location two when Yue Fei couldn''t take it anymore. (YF) "What did you show him back there Meng Tian?" (MT) "It''s nothing." Yue Fei was curious, as was everyone else. However, prying any further when someone says they didn''t want to talk about it would just spoil the mood. So, Baron decided to change the topic to something else. (BM) "How are we going to do this? Half of us will man the stall and the other half wander around looking for useful blueprints?" (YF) "In my experience it would be best if we have 2 people man the stall while the others comb location 2,3,4, and 5 for anything that is eye catching. We don''t have access yet to location 1 since our badge only says location 2." (BM) "Yea that''s smart actually. This event goes on for 4 days, and even with that amount of time we won''t be able to look through everything. Going for quantity here is the best strategy in my opinion." (BC) "Yes,but who will man the stall at what time?" (MT) "I propose that we split the remaining six into 2 groups of 2 and 2 groups of 1. One will go looking in location 2, 1 will go looking for location 3, 2 for location 4, and 2 for location 5. This is the best way since location 4, and 5 will have the most blueprints for sale." (BM) "Yes, that''s a great idea." (YF) "This place will no doubt have some unethical people around. However, they won''t dare to mess wiht any masters or elders. That''s why I say at least one of the Meng duo, Guan Yu, or me will have to stay and man the stall at any given time. This is the safest way." (BC) "You sure know how this works. Glad to have you on our side." The eight of them all agreed and split up into 4 groups that would each man the stall for 24 hours each. The first day would consist of Yue Fei and Ban Chao, the second day would be Meng Tian and Xu Da, the third day will be Meng Yi and Baron, and the last day will be Guan Yu and Han Xin. They all went into location 2 and set up the booth that had been provided to them and lay out the blueprints that would most likely attract customers. Now all they had to do was wait for the event to officially start. They couldn''t wait. Off in the distance a group of greedy eyed people began to look around location 2. Thinking about the profit they would make once the event officially started. 50 Vespers Goons On the first day of the Great Auction was when the most commotion could be heard. Multiple people yelling and fighting over the limited blueprints. Something to note is that although the sellers could sell an infinite number of blueprints, this wouldn''t be optimal since their competitors, I.e customers, would become too powerful. Therefore, unless they really saw no value in a rare blueprint would they sell to anyone and everyone. Much like Han Xin and his Mark 1 tank. Meng Yi would be scoping out location two where their stall is set up. Guan Yu would be trying his luck in location 3. Meng Tian and Xu Da on location 4. Han Xin would be showing Baron the ropes at location 5. Yue Fei and Ban Chao would be manning the stall on this day and therefore earnestly did their best to attract customers. For the first few hours they had little to no luck. Although their blueprints were considered fairly good, they could not hope to compete with these guys who have been doing this type of work for a much longer period of time. Ban Chao and Yue Fei focused mainly on going down the path of a strategist. Even within Planet 4 not all strategists that come here will continue being strategists. Some chose to go down paths that were much more suited to them since their talent wasn''t enough for them to make a living. They may be in the afterlife but comfort was still ultimately still the most desirable goal. Being a strategist was by far the most common way to make money, but there were quite a whole host of other professions. The most sought after would have to be a member of the research and development team, followed by assassins/berserkers for hire, and next came official envoys. Research and development refers to taking blueprints and adding improvements onto it. Assassin/berserkers would be hired to participate in sims and would bolster the army considerably, or just off the head of the enemy general. This is mainly used in land battles. Envoys are people who deliver messages to other communities typically for high ranking elders. However, by far the most common profession after strategist would have to be blueprint flippers. Buying blueprints low and selling them ata higher price later down the line. Some of the more unsavory factions would use their name and reputation to pressure blueprint sellers to lower/raise their price depending on the situation. The group that is the most well known for this is the Vesper Group. They would send the most goons to every event to extort as much as they could using just the reputation of their name. This is actually one of the main reasons that the Forever Pirates are being suppressed by the Vesper Group. The normal peddler would have their entire livelihood destroyed if they were to cross the Vesper''s. However, Madam Zheng and her two husbands had none of that and immediately defied the goons of Vesper. Eventually it escalated high enough for Vesper to suppress the Forever Pirates with all their might. Of course the Forever Pirates retaliated, and now both factions are at a sort of standstill. The point is that nearly all the bigwigs on planet 4 are all thick skinned and have egos due to their blessings and successes. A few hours passed and they had only managed to sell 5 blueprints for a total profit of 7,000. Under normal circumstances this would be fairly good for a day''s work. However, this is considered quite lacking when they were compared to all the other stall''s sales. Then all of a sudden customers began flocking to a stall that was the center of a big commotion. Yue Fei and Ban Chao went to go check what had happened. Two stall owners were talking to a group of seven people who had thug like appearances. Seller 1 (S1) "Come on customer Gou Shi you are only willing to pay 5,000 silver coins for my most prized blueprint? You are out of your mind." Seller 2 (S2) "Yea that''s right! Our asking price was 20,000. How dare you mock us like this." Gou Shi(GS) "Oh come on friends. I think you are the one being unreasonable here. Since we have a bit of history together I thought that I would give you guys some face. However now that I see that I''m not welcome I think I''ll reduce it to 1,000 silver coins. What do you say?" (S1) "No way. We wouldn''t sell it to you when you offered 5,000 why would we accept when you give us an even more absurd offer." (GS) "You misunderstand my friends. That wasn''t an offer. That was an order." Gou Shi said as his face instantly turned devilish. (S2) "An order? What kind of idiots do you take us for? We weren''t born yesterday you know." (GS) "While that may be so, you should know that I represent a far more sinister organization. Perhaps you''ve heard of them?" (S1) "Humph. Not many factions can pressure us. We are from the Purple Dragon faction, and we don''t take kindly to your rude requests." The seller said flashing out a purple badge with the initials PD on it. (GS) "Here check mine." Gou Shi reached into his jacket and dramatically revealed a green pendant with the letters VG on it. Which stood for Vesper Group. The two sellers'' face instantly turned deathly pale. They knew how sinister the Vesper''s plans were. The two of them didn''t have anywhere near the level of backing that could deter the Vesper Group. They looked at each other and knew what the other was thinking. We are screwed. (GS) "You two are such chumps. If there is nothing else I''ll take the blueprint now." All of a sudden a voice rang out from the crowd of onlookers and a figure made their way to the front. It was Yue Fei ''s nature that led him to come to this conclusion that helping out these two owners should be his duty. (YF) "How about you guys go on your way and things won''t get ugly." (GS) "Haha, who are you? Obviously a fool who doesn''t know his place?" (YF) "I''m Yue Fei. An elder here in the Chinese community ranked 95. I think you should leave these people alone." (GS) "So what if you are an elder? Just you alone won''t be able to deter the wrath of the Vespers. I heard that you are one of the few faction less elders. Are you sure you want to do this?" (BC) "Yes we do actually. We''re not afraid of your organization. If anything, you guys are more pathetic to these owners that you tried to swindle." Ban Chao said as he also made his way to the front of the group. Yue Fei and Ban Chao were now an arms reach away from Gou Shi and his six friends. (GS) "You guys should seriously consider the consequences of the actions that you guys will incur upon yourselves." (YF) "Don''t worry about us. We already have a bone to pick with your Vesper gang. They will regret everything they ever stood for. You included." (GS) "Very well. However, I am getting this blueprint from these losers no matter what you say." Gou Shi turned around and demanded the two sellers give up their prized blueprint. The two sellers looked at Gou Shi and his goons then took a quick glance at Yue Fei and Ban Chao. (S1) "I..... I... I" (YF) "I won''t do anything if you don''t want me to mr. seller. Just say the word and you will be under myprotection." (S1) "I....I....I" (GS) "I, I, I, what I? Make your decision now. Incur the consequences of the Vesper''s or seek protection from that idiot. He will not be able to protect you for long let me just warn you. I won''t be able to do anything to you for today, but you will surely get what''s coming to you if you make the wrong decision today. Choose wisely. This could decide your fate within the Chinese community." (S1) "I... elder Yue Fei! Please protect me. I beg of you." (YF) "Consider it done." Yue Fei said with a smile on his face and immediately walked righ up to within a few centimeters of Gou Shi. "You heard the man, get lost Gou Shi. Or would you rather offend an elder?" (GS) "Humph. Men! We''re leaving. Come follow me this way. We don''t need that unusable blueprint anyway. It''s not even worth the 1,000 silver coins." As the goons slowly left, the two sellers approached Yue Fei to thank him for his kindness. Yue Fei, Ban Chao, and the two sellers all went back to their booths shortly after and there was a surprising amount of customers that showed up to their stall after their encounter with the Vesper Group. At the end of the day the made a total profit of almost 100,000 silver coins. Quite a hefty sum for just one day of work. They were more than pleased. 51 Possible Alliance Just before the day had ended news spread of Yue Fei''s defiance against the Vesper faction. It reached the ears of nearly everyone that was participating in The Great Auction, so much so that multiple other rumours started to circulate. "Hey have you heard? A cocky factionless elder that isn''t even all that high ranking is challenging the mighty Vesper faction." "It''s possible that this elder is new and inexperienced can''t it? I''m sure it''ll be no time until this foolish elder decides to apologize." "No way, don''t you know who this elder is? It''s theone with a sense if justice that is second to only elder Guan Yu, he''s elder Yue Fei." "What? The famous Yue Fei is actually picking a fight with the Vesper group? What caused him to do this, isn''t he usually a really cool and collected person who tries to rationalize every situation?" "No idea, maybe the Vesper faction just really pushed Yue Fei too far." Conversations like this continued throughout the day and eventually was overheard by the other members of Under 1 Banner. Once they heard of what had happened allof them decided to rush back to see what exactly had happened from Yue Fei and Ban Chao. Meng Yi was the first to arrive since he was at location 2 as well. He was briefed on what had happened and once he did he decided to wait for the others to come before deciding on what to do next. As the others slowly drifted back to their base in location 2, Meng Yi became even more convinced that he had to do something. The next to arrive was Guan Yu, followed by the rest that came within a short time between each other. (BM) "What happened Yue Fei?" (YF) "I was merely defending someone from the scourge that is the Vesper''s." (BM) "That is so in your nature. What was the name of the person that you offended?" (BC) "He goes by the name of Gou Shi, he''s a total POS. He gets on my nerves just thinking of him. I mean who does he even think he is? He''s not even an important member of the Vesper''s just some lowly goon!" (BM) "Calm down now Ban Chao. No need to get so heated." (MT) "On the contrary I think there is something that needs to be done about this group. I have dealt with this group on numerous occasions, and every time I have they are more annoying than the last. These guys are crafty, sneaky, and smart. Not many who have crossed them have successfully endured their wrath." (BM) "I never imagined that you have had previous encounters with them. Have you done something to offend them?" (MT) "No, rather it was my grandfather who crossed them. My grandfather was a blessed soul, he managed to stay pure and wholesome despite the harsh environment here. He didn''t tell us about any of this and one thing lead to another and the faction my father started started waging a war with the Vesper''s." (BM) "Really? How did it go?" (MT) "It hasn''t really been all that great. It was actually around this time that my father cast me and Meng Yi out of the faction. They are still at each others throat to this day." (BM) "How many factions are Vesper suppressing right now? It''s incredible that they are doing this to not only the Forever Pirates but also your father''s faction as well." (MY) "I can answer that as I''ve been keeping tabs on the Vesper''s. There are multiple men in that faction that are loyal to me and bring me much information about their endeavours. As far as I am aware the Vesper faction is right now trying to suppress close to 80 small to mid sized factions, and 3 large factions." (BM) "What rank are the Vesper group if they have the manpower and influence to suppress so many factions at once?" (MY) "There generally isn''t a ranking associated with any faction after the three great factions. However, the Vesper faction is generally accepted as the 13th most powerful faction within the Chinese community." (BM) "How have you guys defied them? I''m sure they will just keep sending in higher and higher ranking strategists to come and pressure you to obey them." (MT) "Generally they don''t bother with us too much since we are still loosely associated with our . previous faction. Our father''s faction is called Men Of Meng or M.O.M for short, and are one of the three large size factions that the Vesper group is trying to suppress. So usually showing them our M.O.M badge is enough to clear the rabble, as of yet there hasn''t been anyone high ranking enough to come after us that this trick didn''t work." (GY) "M.O.M? I''ve heard of that faction before, you guys are known to have many superior strategists who double as strong warriors if the battle calls for it. I''m surprised that Vesper would even consider going for you guys in the first place. That faction is a fair bit stronger than the Forever Pirates that we are allied with." (MT) "Now that is news to me. How are you allied with Madam Zheng? Sh is notorious for refusing many alliances, even some that provide many many benefits to them." (BM) "Surprisingly enough, she came to me. It was during my first month or so she had requested I come over to her for a little chat." (MT) "That''s a bit weird especially for a person of her stature. Let''s leave this conversation for later. We need to talk about a solution to the problem of the Vesper group coming back to cause trouble for us." (BM) "You said all you had to do to get rid of them was show them which faction you belonged to?" (MT) "Yes, but I don''t think that would work this time around. This is location 2 after all, there are bound to be many high ranking elders within the Vesper gang here. Perhaps we should just pack up and go home after all we can''t hope to offend any core members of any large scale faction." Just at this moment Baron noticed a familiar figure walking towards them and he was visibly very salty at the moment. Instantly one person came to mind, it was the first husband of Madam Zheng, H1. Baron spoke up and introduced the newcomer to his group. (BM) "Ah, welcome. What brings you here to our little stall?" (H1) "Humph don''t get too cocky kid, I''m only here to deliver something to your undeserving hands." He said as he tossed a little medallion to Baron. (BM) "Is this the badge that signifies of your faction''s trust of other people?" (H1) "Of course it is you dimwit. Madam Zheng also told me to tell you that if you need anything from her you can use that medallion to enter into location 1 to request her help. Though it''ll cost you a pretty penny if you actually want us to help you." (BM) "How thoughtful, really thank you for being so kind as to deliver this yourself. How is the research and development over the basic sea mine coming along?" (H1) "It''s extremely useful since we like to do more sea oriented battles I ''m not going to lie, but improving it will take quite a few years more. It is certainly slow since most of the best in this field aren''t willing to offend the Vesper group by helping us." (BM) "Hey I''ve got a great idea. Why don''t you join into an alliance with the Men Of Meng faction? You two both stand to gain from such an alliance, no?" (H1) "Humph, we don''t need their help, besides the ego on these guys is sky high. Doing business with them is no fun, especially that leader Meng Wu. They are a powerful group yes, but he is just so thick minded that no no one wants to ally with him or his group." (BM) "Why don''t you have a conversation with Madam Zheng? If you guys change your mind just come back to my HQ and talk to Meng Yi and Meng Tian here. I''m sure they could set up an audience between you and Meng Wu, they are after all the two sons of Meng Wu." (H1) "I''m not sure how you managed to enlist the help of the Meng duo since the last time I saw you, but you should know that their aerial prowess is not the only thing they are known for." (BM) "What do you mean by that?" (H1) "That''s all I''ll say about that. If I feel like it I''ll inform Madam Zheng of your proposal. See you kids later." With that the first husband of Madam Zheng abruptly left with a confusing choice of words that he left behind. With that the conversation turned to something else. What blueprints were bought today by the people who spent the day scouring the large hall for treasures. Boy did they buy lots of good stuff. 52 Gou Shis Reinforcemen The treasures that they had found while aimlessly browsing the four locations were numerous. Meng Tian and Meng Yi spent their own money to obtain a few things that interested them, then they spent a few of the faction funds to obtain items that would benefit all of them. The other two came back with about 10 blueprints. All in all almost 50,000 silver coins were used on the first day alone. The shared blueprints they had gathered were quite expensive. Some of the most important being an Assyrian battering ram, and basic night vision lenses. Not the best picks, but they all offered some sort of advantage in warfare if used properly. At the end of the day the eight of them split up for a few hours to take care of their own business. Baron had Yue Fei, and Guan Yu use their influence to do a few tasks for him. The Meng duo left together doing who knows what. Ban Chao left to go get some drinks with some old friends. Xu Da tried to get a few more guild tasks done before the second day of The Great Event started. Meng Tian and Xu Da were the ones to operate the stall on the second day, and due to the buzz from yesterday they had quite a few customers upon opening. Once the wave of customers had gone Xu Da asked Meng Tian something that had bothered him for quite a while. (XD) "What did the first husband of Madam Zheng mean when he said aerial prowess was not the only thing you were known for?" (MT) "......I think it''s best if you don''t know, after all my secret is a pretty dangerous one. I''m not even sure how he knows about it in the first place." Meng Tian said after pausing to think. (XD) "Alright, then forget I asked. Hey, how come you and Meng Yi are so secretive, and mysterious?" (MT) "What do you mean by that?" He said in a rather slow and uninterested voice. (XD) "It''s just that even when you two were coaching me in aerial tactics you weren''t very talkative either." (MT) "It''s just that I have a tendency to have a bit more of a lax attitude towards being here I suppose." (XD) "Oh, I see. Have you talked to your father lately?" (MT) "No, not really. I have quite a few issues with him as does my brother. I mean how could he just cast us out once things got tough? We are a family we are supposed to get through the dark periods together." (XD) "I don''t want to sound like an authority on this matter, but perhaps he cast you and your brother out because if he did lose the fight against Vesper at least you two wouldn''t be affected." (MT) "I came to that conclusion some time ago as well. However, I still don''t forgive him if he actually did do this for our sake. This just means he has no trust in us." (XD) "Wow you sure have daddy issues." At this moment a group of people came up to their booth. Lo and behold it was Gou Shi and 3 others. Gou Shi was sporting an even crazier haircut and attire than he had yesterday. (GS) "Hey losers, I''ve been told that this booth is the one that Yue Fei was selling stuff at. Where is that disgrace of an elder? Did he run away?" (XD) "HEY! Do not speak of Yue Fei in such a manner." Xu Da said through clenched teeth. (GS) "Oh? so you know him, well why don''t you call him here? These people behind me have a word or two to say to him." (XD) "Why would I? He doesn''t need to be here to endure your insults. By the way, did your barber die?" (GS) "Wait, what?" (XD) "Your hair is an absolute eyesore to me. Please leave." (GS) "You..." Gou Shi was visibly fuming now, and the three behind him were starting to laugh. This only added to Gou Shi''s embarrassment."What did you say about my hair?" (XD) "I said please, and besides, your choice of clothing is even worse apparently. What is with that get up? Did you have a blind person choose your outfit today? I wouldn''t be caught dead in that yet you are walking around in that like you are some sort of hotshot." At this the three behind Gou Shi could not hold it in anymore and started to laugh as if no one was around. Even the mellow Meng Tian gave out a little chuckle assoon as he saw how Gou Shi was about to explode from anger. (GS) "Listen here you little punk. Get Yue Fei to come out or else I''ll ruin you and your reputation forever." (XD) "Oh I don''t think so buddy, on the contrary why don''t you introduce us to your friends. Based on them laughing on you and you not doing anything about it they must be higher than you ranking wise." One of the three figures came up, and introduced herself. She had a very thin figure but her outfit consisted of many mismatched items of armour all around her body. (HY) "Greetings, I am Ho Yang. I am outer disciple of the Vesper faction, and we wish to request an audience with elder Yue Fei. Also an apology to Gou Shi is in order as well, you can''t exactly go about insulting everyone and expect to get away with it." (XD) "Gou Shi I am truly sorry..." Xu Da said in a truly monotone voice. (GS) "Thank yo....." (XD) "...sorry I thought your outfit was bad, I mean look at this girl here. Her combination of armour is perhaps the ugliest I have ever seen. Where did you get all of this from? The rubbish behind your rubbish faction?" (HY) "This is my most powerful of armour and weapons. Who are you to judge me about style? What does style matter on the battlefield?" (XD) "What does style matter on the battlefield you say? If I saw you on the other side of my sim I would resign immediately since your gaudy outfit gives me second hand embarrassment." (HY) "Why you little..." (XD) "Oh and one more thing little lassie. Don''t try to be all buddy buddy with us when your friend was just threatening us moments ago." Now it was Ho Yang''s turn to be fuming. No one, not even Gou Shi was saying or doing anything. They were all waiting for Ho Yang to react to all the jabs that Xu Da had just done to her. (HY) "Listen here you little POS, I tried to be nice and settle this on friendly terms but you should know. I am not just an outer disciple, I also have connections to the inner disciples and even an elder. So you better watch what you say from now on." (XD) "Oh great, a spoiled brat. Well listen here darling, take a look at this and let''s see if you still dare to say anything." Xu Da handed her the medallion that Madam Zheng''s husband gave to them yesterday. (HY) ".....this is.... a medallion symbolizing the support of the Forever Pirates? And it''s even of the highest level? How did you get this?" (XD) "Easy, one of the two co-leaders delivered it to us yesterday." (HY) "..." (XD) "Oh what''s wrong? Loss for words?" By this point there was already a large group gathering around the stall. The amount of tension there was in the air could be cut with a knife. Many of the stall owners hated the Vesper faction, and to see some of their members being insulted while not being able to retaliate was a glorious sight to behold. (HY) "Humph we''re leaving." (GS) "But..." (HY) "NOW!" Ho Yang screamed at Gou Shi loud enough for everyone to hear and stormed out. Their departure signaled the start of thunderous applause from the many merchants and buyers. After all, the Vesper faction was almost universally hated by all the bottom of the ladder people, which is to say a lot. Once again after this incident came another wave of people eager to buy Meng Tian and Xu Da''s blueprints. It was a sort of appreciative gesture that many people felt were the least they could do to support such brave souls. Once again the rumours spread, but due to the severity of it, the other 6 did not get back until near the end of the second day. Xu Da explained to everybody what had happened with Ho Yang and all the insults he threw their way. Everyone laughed throughout the retelling, and laughed some more by the end of it. (MY) "I think they will be coming back with even higher ranking individuals to try to intimidate us. Are you all sure you want to continue down this path?" Meng Yi said in concern. (BM) "Not to worry my friend. We can''t show weakness or else when we do become a faction we would become a laughing stock." (MT) "While we may be temporary members, me and my brother still need to get those other blueprints from you later. So I think it would be best if I left my badge at this booth as well as the one from the Forever Pirates." 53 A Wild Elder Appears Baron and the others gather once again to discuss what they had managed to get while on their little shopping trip as well as the matter concerning the Vesper faction. (BM) "I didn''t find anything I thought was worth our time today so I have come back empty handed, as was the case for Han Xin." Baron admitted. (BC) "Me and Yue Fei only found one item while on our search at location 4. This blueprint isn''t even that useful to us." Ban Chao sighed while looking at Yue Fei. (MY) "Wow, well I have something really interesting for you guys to see then." Meng Yi took out a blueprint that instantly made the others jaw drop. (BM) "A ship? Aren''t you more of an aerial strategist?" (MY) "I figure that you guys should start investing in some naval blueprints sooner rather than later. It''s never too early to prepare, especially for a strategist. This blueprint is one of the ancient athenian trireme." (BM) "Yes, quite the obstacle for anyone facing it at that period in time. This is an exceptional find Meng Yi, excellent work. Although we didn''t manage to find much treasures today this one blueprint more than makes up for it. Surely this must have cost quite a small fortune." (MY) "That is quite an understatement, this one blueprint cost close to 25,000 silver coins.Expensive sure, but well worth it in my opinion." (BM) "Indeed. Meng Tian, Xu Da how much profit did we make today?" (XD) "Pretty good, after that little showdown with the goons of Vesper, there were quite a few people willing to buy our goods. We made almost double of what we had made yesterday." (BM) "That''s good. Though I don''t really like how you treated those goons. They may be good for nothings but we shouldn''t stoop to their level." (XD) "Hehe, don''t worry about it too much. How do you think I managed to get so many honourable people into my friend circle? It''s because I''m a breath of fresh air as they say." (BM) "Alright, well don''t over do it. Who knows who they are going to get to come after us next?" (XD) "That will have to be on your shoulders since you will be manning this station tomorrow. Also, I know my limits." The group of eight once again split up to take care of their own business once again and came back around just before the third day of the event started. (BM) "Are you ready Meng Yi? It will be just us for the next little while." (MY) "I''ll be fine. What does a semi master have to fear when selling blueprints." (BM) "True enough. Let''s hope the members of the Vesper Faction don''t bother us anymore. I am seriously wondering how they have lasted so long on planet 4 in the first place." (MY) "I have heard quite a number of baseless rumours over the yers, as has my brother. However, I have overheard a rumour that my father was talking about. I''m not sure how accurate it is, but it is quite a sinister plot if I ever did hear one." (BM) "What is it? You have my full attention." (MY) "I overheard that the Vesper faction is a subsidiary faction of one of the four great strategists of the Warring States era." (BM) "Such a big faction like them is only a subsidiary? Then that would explain how they survived being so nefarious for so long if this rumour was true. Did yu happen to hear which one of the four is responsible?" (MY) "Unfortunately no. We can guess as to whom it might be, but your guess is as good as mine." (BM) "Why is that?" (MY) "The most plausible one would be Wang Jian, but whose to say one of the other three haven''t just been planning an absurdly long facade to achieve something greater? Anyway it''s impossible to guess." (BM) "So that''s what you meant, no wonder." At this moment customers began to quickly flood their stall wanting to question Baron and Meng Yi about what had happened the past two days. Baron spent a few minutes explaining what had happened to the crowd of onlookers all the while they were flabbergasted at the bravado that Baron and his men showed. They were so grateful many bought a few regular blueprints to show their support. Many hours passed by and business was still good despite everything else. That is, until Gou Shi, Ho Yang, and a few esteemed looking fellows stopped by Baron''s booth. (GS) "Where did that potty mouthed little kid from yesterday go?" (BM) "I assume you must be the infamous terrible dresser that Xu Da has told me about?" (GS) "Are you going to start insulting me too? I''ll have to warn you how bad of an idea that is since there are three elders from the Vesper Faction here." Gou Shi said with an evil smile showing on his lips. (BM) "So, just because you brought three elders here you think we would start doing whatever you wanted? Were you born yesterday, because you sure seem to have the brain functions of a baby." (GS) "What can you do with just the two of you? Even if you brought out the Forever Pirates medallion right now, that won''t be enough to scare three elder." (MY) "While that may be true. Perhaps that medallion plus this badge will change your mind." Meng Yi whipped out his brother''s M.O.M badge and showed it to Gou Shi. (HY) "Impossible! How do you guys have the support of both of those wretched factions?" (BM) "You must be that oddly dressed Ho Yang that I''ve heard about. I''m glad that at least you had the decency to change into something nicer before coming back here." (HY) "Are you patronizing me?" (BM) "No, so what do you guys say? We call it even and you guys don''t ever bother us again? I hardly think any of you would dare to go against two fully fledged factions on by yourselves?" (GS) "Humph, not today, not ever. You have just made a lifelong enemy. Who are you anyway?" (BM) "I''m Baron Magellan, I came here to Planet 4 a few years ago." (GS) "Wait hang on. Someone like you dares to threaten us? We have all been here an infinitely longer time than you have, what gives you the right to treat us this way?" (BM) "Well for starters, scum should be talked down to. What do you think happens to scum? They will eventually be stamped out and run over." (HY) "Is that another threat?" (BM) "Maybe. However, you should know that no matter how powerful your faction is, you won''t ever be able touch me." (WSG) "I think you''ve spoken enough young man, you have quite the gall to insult my juniors despite me being here." A voice came from the previously silent group of three elders. His name is Wu San Gui, a fairly renowned strategist on the same level as Ban Chao. (BM) "Elder, what pray tell might your name be?" (WSG) "Wu San Gui, have you heard of me?" (BM) "I certainly have, and not in any good way. You might have been a decent military strategist, yet you decided to become a traitor instead. You may have become an emperor for a short amount of time, but at what cost? You are deemed to be a traitor of two dynasties." (WSG) "Watch your tongue, you have no idea what I''ve been through." (BM) "Before we get to that I have a question for you. What is your philosophy on war." (WSG) "What, isn''t it just to kill as many enemy soldiers as you can?" (BM) "I see, it seems you truly are a fool down to your very core." (WSG) "That may be so, but I still outrank you many folds. What are you going to do about it?" (BM) "Well, if you push this any further than you already have, I will be the one to make an alliance between the Men of Meng faction and the Forever Pirates. After that point I will make sure to utterly ruin you and any connections you may have. Back down now while you still have the chance." (WSG) "LIKE HELL I WILL!" Wu San Gui shouted at Baron and went in for a punch. All of a sudden out of the crowd of onlookers a shadow appeared out of nowhere and blocked Wu San Gui''s punch, not like it would''ve made any difference since no one there could sustain any injuries. Everyone was surprised to see someone would risk their livelihood by doing such a needless act. This fellow that blocked Wu San Gui''s punch was an extremely built man that had muscles where many people didn''t. That is to say a man''s man. (WSG) "Mister, this doesn''t concern you. Why don''t you leave?" Wu San Gui said only to get a snort as a reply out of the mysterious man. (MY) "Father? What are you doing here?" 54 End of the Great Auction There were many gasps of surprises that rang throughout the surrounding area. No one was expecting such a turn of events, how could they? After all, many of the most powerful faction leaders were supposed to be in location 1. Not many would bother with any of the other locations since locations 2 to 5 have the least qualitative blueprints for sale and capable buyers. Meng Wu was now in direct conflict with one of the Vesper''s elders, Wu San Gui. (WSG) "Father? You mean to say that Meng Wu is your actual father?" Wu San Gui said with a hint of fear in his voice. (MW) "Yea, scared now?" Meng Wu said with a sly smile. (WSG) "Humph, what is there to be afraid of? You are just the leader of some lesser faction." (MW) "While that may be true, you should know that I don''t particularly agree with you disciplining this boy. Hitting him may not harm him in any way, but the disgrace he has to face afterwards is something that is very shameful. I won''t stand down just because you are from Vesper." (WSG) "What does this boy have to do with you?" (MW) "This matter doesn''t concern you, well, not yet at least." (WSG) "Curses. Why is my luck so bad." (MW) "What will it be, Wu San Gui? I doubt you can risk elevating this matter any higher than it already has gotten. Don''t you think?" (WSG) "Since it is you, I suppose I could make an exception. Let''s go." Wu San Gui turned to leave from an embarrassing predicament. (GS) "But..." (WSG) "Shut it Gou Shi, I still need to talk to you after this is all over." He said with an ice cold temperament. Gou Shi could only nod in response. (BM) "Thanks for your help elder Meng Wu." (MW) "I''m only ranked 88 in the elder rankings I can barely be considered an elder. Hahaha." (BM) "Right, well, your help in deescalating the matter is much appreciated." (MW) "How can I refuse what elder Guan Yu, and elder Yue Fei propose? I mean, an alliance with the Forever Pirates and the Men of Meng will be the stuff of legends." (MY) "This is why you came?" Meng Yi asked. (MW) "That is the reason my son. Where is your brother by the way? I heard he was also involved with the Vesper gang just yesterday." (BM) "Your eldest son is just in another location trying to try and find a few decent blueprints that we can use." (MW) "Is that so? Well, I got your message loud and clear. I''d be pretty impressed if you actually managed to get the Forever Pirated to agree to something so against their beliefs." (BM) "Not to worry, I believe we will be getting our response soon. Are you busy at the moment elder Meng Wu?" (MW) "Not terribly so, why?" (BM) "I was just wondering if you could help us in our blueprint sales." (MW) "Oh? In what way are you talking about?" (BM) "This won''t take very long. Just a little announcement to the crowd that is gathered here just staring at us." (MW) "Hoo, you are quite bold to ask for a favor like that when we met just moments earlier. I like that you have quite the guts." (BM) "Would you like to take a blueprint as compensation? How about this Mark 1 tank?" (MW) "I actually was in the market looking for a tank. Finding one is incredibly tough. Most of my top brass has been trying to get one for a century now, but so far no dice. This will be a nice present for their loyalty towards me. Alright I''ll do it." He said as he took the blueprint from Baron''s hands. (BM) "Excellent, then I''ll be counting on you then." (MW) "ALL RIGHT EVERYONE, LISTEN UP. This stall here is hereby under protection of the full might of the M.O.M faction. So have no fear when you shop here.Looking for a tank? repeating crossbow? flamethrower? These guys have got quite a bit of good stuff, please check it out. Also, today only, get 15% off all items from this stall. Hehe." Meng Wu finished with a chuckle, and immediately left while Baron and Meng Yi were still digesting what he had just said. "Treat my boys well, Baron. See you later Meng Yi." (BM) "Your father is quite mischievous. How is he running a large scale faction?" (MY) "He has his moments, but yea. He is a bit childish at times." Just as Meng Yi finished, there were dozens upon dozens of customers coming to their stall. The next few hours the rumor of Meng Wu and Baron spread like wildfire. More and more customers showed up and the two were just non stop serving customers. Eventually, Guan Yu who was also at location two heard the rumor and came back as fast as he could. Once he did, he immediately began helping Baron and Meng Yi out. That day was phenomenal in terms of their sales. They had nearly tripled their earnings from both of their previous days combined. The moment that the event officially closed for the day was when the three of them sighed a big sigh of relief. Though their bodies did not tire from the work, their minds were drained from all the excessive workload. Meng Tian and the others were surprised to say the least once they saw how much money they had managed to obtain in a single day. (MT) "How did you guys manage to sell so much in one day? Does it have something to do with my father showing up?" (BM) "Yes, actually. He did help us a bit by advertising us. He even announced that we were giving a discount of 15% today without even consulting us." (MT) "That sounds like him, childish at times. Did he say anything about me or my brother?" (BM) "He told me to treat you two well. That''s about it." (MT) "Humph, seems like he is still the same as before." (BM) "Oh don''t be like that. I''m sure he cares about you despite being like this. He doesn''t seem too bad a person." (MT) "Forget it. I''m going to do a bit more training before the event starts for tomorrow. Come on Meng Yi." He said as the two of them made for the exit. (BM) "Those three sure have an interesting relationship. Anyway, good job today all. I feel like I haven''t given you guys enough benefits lately. So I believe that everyone should take 2,000 silver coins and add it to their personal pouches. I''ll tell the two that just left tomorrow." (XD) "Wow, 2,000? You sure are being generous. I haven''t been given this much in one go, ever. I''m not sure I can accept this." (BM) "I know you guys don''t follow me just because of making money, but you should also know that I just wouldn''t feel right not paying you guys anything after all the effort you guys have put in to help me realize my dream." (GY) "What are you talking about Baron? We are brothers aren''t we? I have never met anyone quite as worldly as you are. Not even the ones within the Chinese community that have made multiple trips to the other communities." Guan Yu said with conviction. (YF) "Same with me. I would have never learned so much from anyone else. In fact I think I have benefited more from being around you than vice versa." Yue Fei said smilingly. (BC) "How can I disagree with the two elders? You have been an exceptional learning experience plus some tactics that I have never seen from any other person here." Ban Chao agreed with the others. (HX) "You have reignited my passion for battle, my boy. I haven''t really been going at it with all my might these past millennia. Truly you have a knack for persuasion unlike any person I have ever met before." (XD) "Uh yea, what they said. Plus, the friendships I''ve had with you guys really makes me wonder why I preferred to be solo for so long." (BM) "Oh stop being so sentimental and take your fair share of the money. If allgoes well tomorrow I will distribute tomorrow." (YF) "Wait, I think they are adding a new portion of the event to it this year." (GY) "Oh? Are you talking about the Heavenly Auction or whatever they are calling it?" (YF) "Yes, the first half day tomorrow will be what we have been doing these past 3 days, but the second half of the day will be different for everyone involved." (GY) "I''ve only heard that they plan on inviting everyone to participate in an auction that will sell some of the blueprints from the Sun Coalition''s personal private treasury." (HX) "No way? The number one faction will be personally selling some of their hard earned blueprints? This is certainly news." (BM) "It''s a good thing we have made so much money these past few days. I''ve been itching to find a superior blueprint which will undoubtedly increase our strength considerably." 54 Great Auction end of Day Three There were many gasps of surprises that rang throughout the surrounding area. No one was expecting such a turn of events, how could they? After all, many of the most powerful faction leaders were supposed to be in location 1. Not many would bother with any of the other locations since locations 2 to 5 have the least qualitative blueprints for sale and capable buyers. Meng Wu was now in direct conflict with one of the Vesper''s elders, Wu San Gui. (WSG) "Father? You mean to say that Meng Wu is your actual father?" Wu San Gui said with a hint of fear in his voice. (MW) "Yea, scared now?" Meng Wu said with a sly smile. (WSG) "Humph, what is there to be afraid of? You are just the leader of some lesser faction." (MW) "While that may be true, you should know that I don''t particularly agree with you disciplining this boy. Hitting him may not harm him in any way, but the disgrace he has to face afterwards is something that is very shameful. I won''t stand down just because you are from Vesper." (WSG) "What does this boy have to do with you?" (MW) "This matter doesn''t concern you, well, not yet at least." (WSG) "Curses. Why is my luck so bad." (MW) "What will it be, Wu San Gui? I doubt you can risk elevating this matter any higher than it already has gotten. Don''t you think?" (WSG) "Since it is you, I suppose I could make an exception. Let''s go." Wu San Gui turned to leave from an embarrassing predicament. (GS) "But..." (WSG) "Shut it Gou Shi, I still need to talk to you after this is all over." He said with an ice cold temperament. Gou Shi could only nod in response. (BM) "Thanks for your help elder Meng Wu." (MW) "I''m only ranked 88 in the elder rankings I can barely be considered an elder. Hahaha." (BM) "Right, well, your help in deescalating the matter is much appreciated." (MW) "How can I refuse what elder Guan Yu, and elder Yue Fei propose? I mean, an alliance with the Forever Pirates and the Men of Meng will be the stuff of legends." (MY) "This is why you came?" Meng Yi asked. (MW) "That is the reason, my son. Where is your brother by the way? I heard he was also involved with the Vesper gang just yesterday." (BM) "Your eldest son is just in another location trying to try and find a few decent blueprints that we can use." (MW) "Is that so? Well, I got your message loud and clear. I''d be pretty impressed if you actually managed to get the Forever Pirated to agree to something so against their beliefs." (BM) "Not to worry, I believe we will be getting our response soon. Are you busy at the moment elder Meng Wu?" (MW) "Not terribly so, why?" (BM) "I was just wondering if you could help us in our blueprint sales." (MW) "Oh? In what way are you talking about?" (BM) "This won''t take very long. Just a little announcement to the crowd that is gathered here just staring at us." (MW) "Hoo, you are quite bold to ask for a favor like that when we met just moments earlier. I like that you have quite the guts." (BM) "Would you like to take a blueprint as compensation? How about this Mark 1 tank?" (MW) "I actually was in the market looking for a tank. Finding one is incredibly tough. Most of my top brass has been trying to get one for a century now, but so far no dice. This will be a nice present for their loyalty towards me. Alright, I''ll do it." He said as he took the blueprint from Baron''s hands. (BM) "Excellent, then I''ll be counting on you then." (MW) "ALL RIGHT EVERYONE, LISTEN UP. This stall here is hereby under the protection of the full might of the M.O.M faction. So have no fear when you shop here.Looking for a tank? repeating crossbow? flamethrower? These guys have got quite a bit of good stuff, please check it out. Also, today only, get 15% off all items from this stall. Hehe." Meng Wu finished with a chuckle and immediately left while Baron and Meng Yi were still digesting what he had just said. "Treat my boys well, Baron. See you later Meng Yi." (BM) "Your father is quite mischievous. How is he running a large scale faction?" (MY) "He has his moments, but yea. He is a bit childish at times." Just as Meng Yi finished, there were dozens upon dozens of customers coming to their stall. The next few hours the rumor of Meng Wu and Baron spread like wildfire. More and more customers showed up and the two were just non stop serving customers. Eventually, Guan Yu who was also at location two heard the rumor and came back as fast as he could. Once he did, he immediately began helping Baron and Meng Yi out. That day was phenomenal in terms of their sales. They had nearly tripled their earnings from both of their previous days combined. The moment that the event officially closed for the day was when the three of them sighed a big sigh of relief. Though their bodies did not tire from the work, their minds were drained from all the excessive workload. Meng Tian and the others were surprised, to say the least, once they saw how much money they had managed to obtain in a single day. (MT) "How did you guys manage to sell so much in one day? Does it have something to do with my father showing up?" (BM) "Yes, actually. He did help us a bit by advertising us. He even announced that we were giving a discount of 15% today without even consulting us." (MT) "That sounds like him, childish at times. Did he say anything about me or my brother?" (BM) "He told me to treat you two well. That''s about it." (MT) "Humph, seems like he is still the same as before." (BM) "Oh don''t be like that. I''m sure he cares about you despite being like this. He doesn''t seem too bad a person." (MT) "Forget it. I''m going to do a bit more training before the event starts for tomorrow. Come on Meng Yi." He said as the two of them made for the exit. (BM) "Those three sure have an interesting relationship. Anyway, good job today all. I feel like I haven''t given you guys enough benefits lately. So I believe that everyone should take 2,000 silver coins and add them to their personal pouches. I''ll tell the two that just left tomorrow." (XD) "Wow, 2,000? You sure are being generous. I haven''t been given this much in one go, ever. I''m not sure I can accept this." (BM) "I know you guys don''t follow me just because of making money, but you should also know that I just wouldn''t feel right not paying you guys anything after all the effort you guys have put in to help me realize my dream." (GY) "What are you talking about Baron? We are brothers, aren''t we? I have never met anyone quite as worldly as you are. Not even the ones within the Chinese community that has made multiple trips to the other communities." Guan Yu said with conviction. (YF) "Same with me. I would have never learned so much from anyone else. In fact, I think I have benefited more from being around you than vice versa." Yue Fei said smilingly. (BC) "How can I disagree with the two elders? You have been an exceptional learning experience plus some tactics that I have never seen from any other person here." Ban Chao agreed with the others. (HX) "You have reignited my passion for battle, my boy. I haven''t really been going at it with all my might these past millennia. Truly you have a knack for persuasion, unlike any person I have ever met before." (XD) "Uh yeah, what they said. Plus, the friendships I''ve had with you guys really makes me wonder why I preferred to be solo for so long." (BM) "Oh stop being so sentimental and take your fair share of the money. If allgoes well tomorrow I will distribute tomorrow." (YF) "Wait, I think they are adding a new portion of the event to it this year." (GY) "Oh? Are you talking about the Heavenly Auction or whatever they are calling it?" (YF) "Yes, the first half day tomorrow will be what we have been doing these past 3 days, but the second half of the day will be different for everyone involved." (GY) "I''ve only heard that they plan on inviting everyone to participate in an auction that will sell some of the blueprints from the Sun Coalition''s personal private treasury." (HX) "No way? The number one faction will be personally selling some of their hard-earned blueprints? This is certainly news." (BM) "It''s a good thing we have made so much money these past few days. I''ve been itching to find a superior blueprint which will undoubtedly increase our strength considerably." 55 M.O.M Meets the Forever Pirates There was no doubt in the minds of those who heard the news of the Sun Alliance auctioning off their personal items were for something that they were planning in secret. The number one faction would have no need for this extra income unless it was for some big ambitious project that might even put them in the red, financially speaking. It''s just that no one on the outside knew what it could possibly be. The first half of the fourth day of the Great Auction went by in a flash. No one really made much profit during this time since most had heard the rumors that there would be an event that would involve many silver coins. The vast majority didn''t know that the Sun Alliance would be hosting a personal auction, just that there was going to be a special event. During this half a day, the two that were manning the stall had not managed to find success in making profits due to this rumor. They had only made about 15,000, a measly amount compared to the hundreds of thousands that they had made the previous days. Looks like the allure of a special event outweighed buying blueprints for many potential customers. Seeing the visible lack of customers compared to the previous days, some merchants just packed up and left. Guan Yu and Han Xin, who was in charge of the stall for the day, nearly gave up too until Baron and the other 5 showed up halfway to the closing time. (GY) "What are you guys doing here? Aren''t you going to shop for blueprints?" (BM) "Haha, the mood right now in all the locations isn''t making me want to buy anything else." Baron said disappointed. (XD) "Boy I''ll say, close to half the stalls have already closed down for today and there are still quite a few hours until closing." Xu Da said in an annoyed voice. (HX) "I see, so it just isn''t happening on location 2. I suppose everyone is just trying to save up for the event that is being held later." (BM) "It seems so, I wonder what kind of blueprints these guys have been holding onto? I''m sure that they wouldn''t just let anyone enter." (YF) "You are right in that sense. Whenever a top tier faction like the Sun Alliance comes out and announces that they will be holding an event as grand as this, they usually impose some sort of gatekeeping mechanism to limit the number of people able to get in and to keep the event relatively for the wealthy and powerful." (BM) "Will we even be able to enter then? We aren''t even an official faction yet, do you think that they will let us in?" (MT) "Not to worry Baron, we have two badges both of the highest quality from two large factions at our side. This should be no problem." Meng Tian said with confidence. (YF) "Yea, we could probably enter into location 1 with just these two alone. It''s just that the stuff there is beyond our usual allowance that I never bothered to mention it. (BM) "Oh, then would it be alright if we went there real quick to see what they have? I''m rather curious how location 1 differs from our location 2." (HX) "I think that''s a great idea. We certainly don''t have much to do here anyway. Let''s go." The eight of them packed up all of their blueprints and made their way to location 1. This place was indeed much smaller than where they had been, but the elegance and sheer divine feeling of the place was infinitely grander. There were two guards guarding the entrance to the location 1. (G1) "Who are you? If you have no business here, please leave. This place is not for bums like you." (XD) "Hey! Who are you calling a bum? I''ll have you know we earned hundreds of thousands in silver coins in just the last three days alone. How much do you make being a guard here, huh? Probably close to nothing..." (BM) "Calm there Xu Da. We don''t need to fight with the nice guards. They are just doing their job. Here is the highest quality badge from the Forever Pirates." (G1) "Humph, you? This is probably fake. Get out of here before I report you to the Forever Pirates for creating a fake, they are right inside after all. Hehe." (XD) "That is really, you little..." (MT) "It''s alright there Xu Da, no need to get so upset. Here is my badge, and I assure you this is 100% legit. The highest quality medallion from the Men of Meng faction." (G1) "Now I know you guys are lying. There is no way agroup as poor looking as you should be able to have two such badges." (MT) "I am the son of the current leader of the M.O.M faction. If you dare to cross me, you should know that there will be consequences." Meng Tian hissed back. This show of supremacy was definitely enough to keep the two guards in check. They knew only this intense ferocity was a special trait of the M.O.Mfaction members. They dared not talk back to such an obvious hint at their fate. (G2) "haha, please forgive him, sir. He is new here so he still doesn''t know how to speak to our valued guests quite yet. Quickly bow down your head." (G1) "...Yes, apologies for that. Please forgive my incompetence." (MT) "It doesn''t matter if you beg for forgiveness now, I''m onto you two and your ways. If I ever see you doing this again I will have your hide." He whispered into their ears so that Baron and the others couldn''t hear him. (G1) "Yes, yes. We promise we won''t." (G2) "Yea, please come in now. You are free to roam about just try to be courteous to everyone here since you will be kicked out if you aren''t compliant with that one rule. Haha...." He said with a face of absolute terror. (MT) "That''s better. Let''s go you guys." The rest followed Meng Tian only knowing that he snapped at these two guards and that was how they were allowed in. They walked in and wandered around for a few minutes until a figure walked right up to them. (MW) "Woah, fancy meeting you here, Baron, elders, my sons, and others... What are you doing here?" Meng Wu said in a confused way. (MT) "Father, long time no see. We are just here to wander about." (MW) "Oh, the guards didn''t give you any trouble did they?" (MT) "Nothing more than usual." (BM) "Elder Meng Wu, what are you up to today? " (MW) "Seeing if there are any last minute deals before all of these guys shut down and wait for the event. I am pretty hyped for this event, I even brought along half my faction''s silver coins. This is no small amount I''ll have you know." (BM) "We are quite excited too. May I ask if you have seen the stall where Madam Zheng''s faction would be?" (MW) "Oh? I do indeed know where they are. Hmmm. Follow me, this place is like a maze." The eight of them followed Meng Wu through many extravagant looking stalls filled with many blueprints. A quick glance revealed that these blueprints were of a much higher quality than the ones from location 2, at least 3 times as expensive. After what seemed like hours, they had finally arrived at the stall of Madam Zheng and her faction. (MZ) "Oh? If it isn''t Baron, and I see you have made quite a few new friends since the last time I saw you. What brings you here to my stall." Madam Zheng said with a smile. (BM) "We were just wondering if you were planning on going to the event that will take place later today?" (H2) "Yes we will, we plan on buying anything and everything as long as it is unique to us and has at least some relation to aquatic warfare. Is that Meng Wu standing beside you?" (MW) "Yes, it is I. The leader of M.O.M, Meng Wu. I see you have heard of me, I am quite renowned for my huge stature." (MZ) "Are you here to talk about an alliance elder Meng Wu?" (MW) "Such matters should be left for after this event ends, this timeI was just showing Baron, my sons, and the rest to meet up with you." (MZ) "Is that so? Are you perchance going to participate in the event later?" (MW) "Yes, in fact, I plan to spend quite a hefty sum today. Hahaha." (MZ) "Oh? Why don''t all of you join us in our private room today? We booked it in advance but the room they gave us was too big. It would be lonely with just me and my two husbands there.." (MW) "Private room? You sure have a lot of money to spend, but no complaints from me. I''ll be there." (BM) "We would love to join you for the auction." 56 A Treasure Trove Part 1 When the time came for the announcement of the event to the masses there were many reading on notices posted by the men from the Sun Coalition. The notice reads as follows: Dear honored guests of the Great Auction, The announcements we have for you today is that of another even grander auction than the one that has just concluded. This auction will be on such a grand scale that many elders of the Sun Coalition have gathered to see that it proceeds smoothly. There will be a requirement to join this event. You must either have a large scale faction give you a recommendation or present over 250,000 silver coins at the time you are in line to get in. The event will be located in the area around location 1, and will start in an hour after this notice has been posted. This notice surprised many because an event of this magnitude had not happened in a long time. Although there were many who were wondering what the event actually was, many knew it would be something only a fool would miss. The ones who could afford it or who had a recommendation rushed immediately to location 1 to line up. Of course, Baron and the others were already at location one and it took them no time to make it to where this grandest of events would be held. Since they already had reserved a room they were able to get in with no hassles and immediately was seated in a private room. They sat and chatted while waiting for the event to begin. The venue they were in was a circular stage draped in a red curtain about halfway in. Surrounding this stage was a 360degree view of seats much like an opera. The seats were divided into 3 groups, one for the relatively low class, one for private rooms for large factions, this is where Baron and the others were. The last was the most grandeur out of all of them belonging to the super powerful factions like the three great factions and Vesper After the waiting time had passed someone had come out of the red curtains and was trying to get everyone to quiet down before he spoke. (LG) "Good afternoon everyone. My name is Li Guang and I will be your main host for today. For those of you who don''t know this event is for the Sun Coalition to sell some of our blueprints. We will begin momentarily so please remain seated until then." -------------------- (BM) "Li Guang? He must be that elder that is related to Li Xin. Meng Wu, is he part of the Sun Coalition?" (MW) "Indeed he is. I have had quite a few bouts with him and I must say he is quite formidable on land. His moniker is the flying demon. If only I knew more about tactics I may stand a chance against him." (BM) "Guan Yu? Yue Fei? Have you ever had a sim against him?" (GY) "I have, but only on one occasion. He was actually the one who did part of my first sim back when I was still new to planet 4. At that time he was very nearly at the rank of an elder, and now he is rank 30 something. His talent is enormous and Sun Tzu personally picked him up and spent his actual time to train him." (YF) "Oh, that is news to me. Sun Tzu is currently our best strategist in the Chinese community, I can''t believe he actually had a disciple." (GY) "He''s had multiple, some are even more ferocious than Li Guang. There''s even rumours that many of the large scale factions'' leaders were trained by him secretly." (MW) "Well, that certainly isn''t the case for me. He must''ve realized that my head wasn''t too good for strategies hahaha. Oh looks like Li Guang is back out." (LG) "Thank you for waiting everybody. Without further ado let me present to you fine members of the Chinese community the first item on the list! A blueprint of the Stuka used by the Nazi''s and developed in 1935. This dive bomber also functions as a ground attack aircraft. There is a little-known fact about his plane. When it dives it makes this intimidating sound to demoralize your enemies. A fine plane if I do say so myself. Our starting bid is 15,000 silver coins" Li Guang said passionately. "I''ll go first!" someone within the crowd shouted. (LG) "Oh? Who would like to bid for more?" "Humph, stop playing around you fool, I''ll go for 30,000!" Yelled someone else. (LG) "We have 30,000! Is there anyone else?" "32,000!" "33,000!" "40,000" In the end, the German developed Stuka was sold for 42,000 by someone in the lower class. This type of stuff did not interest M.O.M, nor the pirates, nor Baron''s group. So they passed on this blueprint. This was the case for the next few items until a certain missile caught Baron''s attention. (LG) "This will be one of our most powerful weapons. The DeepStrike, we had to pay quite a handsome price for this from the United States community, and let me tell you it was worth every coin. We will start this bid at 80,000 silver coins." (BM) "That is something that I hadn''t anticipated would show up here, but this could very well be one of the most devastating blueprints here. We must get this no matter the cost." (MZ) "Oh? Do you need a helping hand?" Madam Zheng said with a smile on her face. (BM) "For now there is no need. I will ask if it is beyond me though." (MZ) "Whatever you say..." "80,000!" "100,000!" "125,000" "150,000" (BM) "200,000!" (LG) "Oh? This is the first time someone from a large faction has bid. It seems they are from the Forever Pirates booth. Is there anyone who would like to bid a higher price?" "250,000" "270,000" (BM) "300,000" Complete silence ensued. Everyone could tell how important this item was to Baron. This caught the eye of one of the elders of Vesper, Wu San Gui. (WSG) "Brothers I have a bone to pick with this little brat. We need to prevent him from getting this blueprint." After looking around he realized that everyone agreed after all their common enemy was the Forever Pirates which Baron seemed to be in. (HE) "Since I am the head elder I will allow you to use up all of your funds plus 200,000 of our factions shared funds. No more than that though. I have been eyeing this blueprint too." (WSG) "Thank you head elder. I''ll bid 315,000 silver coins!" (LG) "Looks like another big faction has decided to join in on the fight. Do I have any more offers?" (BM) "Is that Wu San Gui? He''s trying to outbid me? No way I''d let that happen. 320,000!" (WSG) "325,000!" Wu San Gui was beginning to sweat if Baron bid anymore then he would have to ask for more coins. (BM) "330,000" (WSG) "335,000" (YF) "Baron are you sure of this? Spending so much on a single blueprint? That is a large part of what we had managed to earn these past few days." (BM) "Not to worry, I refuse to believe that Wu San Gui will have that much to spend. 336,000" (WSG) " Head Elder, may I use a little bit more the faction treasury?" (HE) "Absolutely not, the 200,000 silver coins are far more generous than you already deserve." (WSG) "But..." Wu San Gui started getting mad. (HE) "Enough is enough! We concede Li Guang" (LG) "336,000. If there is no one willing to bid anymore, then this Deepstrike will go to the youth in the Forever Pirates room. Going once, going twice, going...." (WSG) "400,000!" Wu San Gui blurted out and immediately regretted his decision. The Head elder, as well as everyone else within the place, looked directly at the crazy fellow. (BM) "400,000 is too rich for my blood, it''s all yours Wu San Gui I know you must be really thirsting for this blueprint if you are willing to pay such a large amount for it." (HE) "My god man. What were you thinking? Oh, that''s right you weren''t." (WSG) "I''m sorry elder, please forgive my foolishness." (HE) "What good is forgiveness? Now we have to spend so much out of our faction''s treasury that the leader of our Vesper faction will clearly notice. You will be the one to pay back the full amount from the faction. All of it." (WSG) "Can''t we just say we made a mistake or something?" (LG) "Remember folks, no matter how much you regret it. You may not go back on your price once you have firmly and proudly stated it. Or else your faction will be ridiculed from even the lowest of filth." (HE) "We cannot afford such a stain in our name. As much as it pains me to say, we will have to pay it up front." 57 A Treasure Trove Part 2 (HE) "You have royally screwed up this time Wu San Gui. I can''t believe you would be so brazen as to do something as foolish as using money that you do not have." (WSG) "Head Elder..." He started but couldn''t finish since Baron''s voice rang throughout the building. (BM) "Hey how about a deal, elders from Vesper?" (HE) "What could you possibly offer that we would want?" (BM) "How about I buy the blueprint for 400,001 silver coins, and after you this event you come to me to reimburse me 100,000?" (WSG) "Who is this disrespectful little runt think he is? Who would think to do something so stupid," (HE) "Now this might actually be a pretty good deal for you Wu San Gui." (WSG) "You can''t be seriously considering this offer, are you? I mean he would get the blueprint and we have to pay 100,000? Are you out of your mind?" (HE) "Not us. You. You will have to pay back the faction over 200,000 silver coins if you make me use the faction''s funds. If you take this runt up on his offer then you won''t have to pay us back anything. You have over 100,000 in your own personal funds right?" (WSG) "Yes but that isn''t the point." (HE) "But nothing. This is your decision now. I was willing to let you use 200,000 coins from the faction since I had wanted that item as well. Now you have put me in a difficult position and therefore I will not be helping you out anymore." (WSG) "Wait..." (HE) "Choose!Drain your funds and owe us over 200,000 and get that blueprint all to yourself. Or pay that kid there 100,000, don''t owe anybody anything, and no blueprint. Decide quickly as there are many eyes looking at us." (WSG) "Kuh. FINE! You in the Forever Pirates booth! I''ll take you up on your offer." (BM) "Remember elder Wu San Gui, there are multiple witnesses here. You better not go back on your words." (WSG) "Hah? Who do you take me for you low life? Of course, I know that." (BM) "Good. I bid 400,001." (LG) "Uhh, oh of course. 400,001 going once, going twice, sold to the young man in the Forever Pirates private room." Li Guang said as he snapped out of his little daydream. This was a result that not many people could predict. Who knew anyone would be so cunning as to make another faction pay for a part of a blueprint and not get anything in return. This was simply too laughable to many of the audience. The loud roars of laughter filled the room. Even the usually composed Li Guang could barely hold it back. (BM) "What do you think guys? Pretty good deal huh?" (XD) "I have been here for many years and not once have I seen anyone is played like a fool as much as what just happened." Xu Da said as he pretended to bow down to Baron from his chair while muttering "truly I am not worthy." (BM) "That''s a bit much from you Xu Da, but I do appreciate the gesture." (MZ) "Truly remarkable. That is indeed some high level of bargaining power that you have." Madam Zheng said with praise. (YF) "Colour me impressed, Baron. Well done. Haha." Yue Fei said holding back a light chuckle. (MW) "Amazing work. I can start to see why my two sons have started following you around." Meng Wu stated. (BM) "Yes, let''s focus on what else the Sun Alliance has in store for us." -------------- The event ended after nearly 6 more hours and hundreds of blueprints more. There were many great blueprints, there is no doubt about that. However, just because the blueprints are great doesn''t mean that there will be interested buyers. The event failed horribly due to two main reasons. One was the fact that not everyone had the money to buy the expensive blueprints that Li Guang kept bringing out one after another. The other reason being that everyone kept waiting to bid on something that would benefit them by leaps and bounds. However, not many people were able to due to the competition and steep price. This impacted the Sun Coalition as well. They were planning on selling a lot of blueprints to start one of their ambitious projects, but the money that they had netted from these two events were not nearly enough. Their plans had been postponed. In the end, Baron''s group came out of the grand auction with a total of 5 high tier blueprints. Meng Wu bought one, Madam Zheng and her two husbands another two, and the last two belonged to Baron. They were all fairly happy with their purchases and after saying their farewells the three groups split up so they could go their separate ways. (BM) "Now that that is taken care of why don''t we go and see Wu San Gui?" (HX) "You sure they wouldn''t just run away?" (BM) "It should be fine. They may be an immoral bunch of thugs, but they don''t have the authority to create this much shame to their faction and get away unscathed. They do care about their face as well." The moment Baron finished he saw a group of familiar faces approaching him. It was indeed the Vesper faction members that he had met previously. (BM) "Have you come to pay your debt Wu San Gui?" (WSG) "Humph, here it is." He said as he grabbed a coin pouch that could hold an infinite amount of coins inside and tossed it over to Baron. (BM) "Nice, nice. Is there anything else before I take my leave?" Baron said as he inspected the contents of the bag. (WSG) "You better watch your back. When you least expect it I''ll be coming for you and everything that you care about." (BM) "Thanks, that''s some solid advice." (WSG) "Haha. You are one gutsy strategist. It''s almost impressive how you haven''t been targetted by anyone yet. Count your blessings that you slipped under the radar from the people who don''t fear the Forever Pirates nor the Vesper''s." (BM) "Oh? Who might you be talking about?" (WSG) "I have no reason to tell you but you should know that they are so powerful even the Sun Coalition fears them." (BM) "Can you at least give me a name as to who this mysterious faction could be?" (WSG) "Now where''s the fun in that? I will tell you one more thing though. The Chinese community may be big, but there''s always a bigger place. That is true for so many levels that you can''t even comprehend." He whispered in Baron''s ears. (BM) "You sure are one weird person. We are still enemies though right?" (WSG) "Hm? Yea oh of course. What you did has surely brought shame to my faction and even more so for me. You have made an even bigger enemy out of the Vesper group than you have before. I''ll be coming for something of yours that is even more important than the 100,000 that I just gave to you." (BM) "Alright then, come on guys. I think we''re done here." The eight of them left while under the gaze of Wu San Gui, the Head Elder of the Vesper faction, and multiple others all with ill intent in their eyes. Especially the Head Elder. ---------------------------- Back at their HQ all of them were celebrating by drinking wine and ordering all sorts of stuff that a party in the afterlife would consist of. Not only had they managed to earn quite a huge sum of coins from this event, they even managed to get two powerful blueprints. One was the deep strike, a missile that you could fire two from a single launch pad. This was a truly devastating instrument of war. The other was an airplane they planned to utilize to the fullest in the upcoming faction selection tournament. The date was coming closer and closer, and they had to prepare all they could so as to have the highest amount of chances to win and become an officially recognized faction. After that point, it wasn''t certain as to what fate had in store for them. They knew the general idea though, their first goal would have to be allying themselves with big names in order to not be harassed by factions that don''t fear the Forever Pirate faction nor the Men of Meng. There was also the possibility that Meng Tian and Meng Yi would leave them as soon as Baron''s group,the Under 1 Banner faction, became officially recognized. However, that was far in the future. Tonight they would celebrate just being able to party with such fine brothers and even finer wine and food. Food and water may not be necessary to survive anymore, but now that they could afford to splurge on the finer things in the afterlife, who would say no? 58 Return of Li Xin They partied all night and once morning came they all had to get back to preparing for the faction tournament that they were all working towards. Due to the overwhelming success that they had in the previous auction event they basically had no more money troubles for the next hundred years or so. Compared to the other merchants that were also selling blueprints, Baron''s group can be considered to have earned more than five times as the much as the average merchant. The eight of them split up into two groups and entered into one single simulation. They did this because they wanted to test out their two new blueprints. These two blueprints were the deepstrike missiles and the other was the B-2 spirit stealth bomber. Both of these were fairly pricey but Baron assured the others that these two blueprints were well worth the price. Baron was unsure of one thing though. If these two weapons are already on planet 4, then how did the Sun Coalition get their hands on it? Even if the United States community wasn''t as powerful as the Chinese community, why would they give something so valuable over? Even if it was purchased legally. For now, all of Baron''s thoughts lay in the manner of using these two in multiple simulations and finding the best ways to utilize them to his fullest advantage. The eight of them worked tirelessly for multiple months until they were confident in their ability to use them in the best possible situation 9 times out of 10. They were all discussing what they think they could improve when a sudden knocking at their door drew their attention. Baron went to see who it was and was surprised to see that it was Li Xin. The person in charge of suppressing the Forever pirates due to orders from above. However, he seriously reduced the damage done to the Forever Pirates as a favor to Baron. (BM) "Li Xin? What brings you here to our HQ?" (LX) "Ah, Baron I have some rather unfortunate news for you. It''s about my control over suppressing your friends the Forever Pirate faction." (BM) "What happened? Actually, why don''t you come in first." (LX) "Thank you. The thing is that I no longer have any control over the situation. One of the senior elders of the main faction has taken me out of this matter and replaced me with someone else." (BM) "Who might this new person be?" (LX) "Some vengeful young upstart that got rejected by Madam Zheng I believe." (BM) "...interesting, to say the least. How long ago was this?" (LX) "They notified me last week, but I was too busy with other matters that I didn''t hear the news until just yesterday." (BM) "It''s fine, I''ll give the news to Madam Zheng. Is your relation to me exposed yet?" (LX) "No need to worry about that. They don''t really care even if they found out." (BM) "Thanks for the heads up. You have really done quite a lot for me." (LX) "Don''t expect me to help you anytime soon. I''m heading out to another community soon. Seeing you grow all these years have seriously impressed me. I realize now that there is no use playing the fool anymore. I will venture out of this safety net that I have been in ever since I got to planet 4." (BM) "Will you be going alone?" (LX) "Yes, I feel that going alone will be the best course of action." (YF) "Have you thought of which community you will be going to?" Yue Fei suddenly piped up. (LX) "No, I think I''ll just go to whichever one I stumble across first I suppose." (YF) "Best not to do that. The outside world is very dangerous. Even if you are from the Sun Coalition yourself, you will not be able to escape every danger. I suggest that you venture out to either the Korean community or the Greeks. Those two have the least hostilities towards us out of all the communities" (LX) "Alright, I''ll take that into consideration. That is all I have come here to say I will be taking my leave now." (GY) "One more thing. I believe your faction leader, Sun Tzu, is currently at the United States community. If you get the chance go and ask him when he plans on coming back." Guan Yu said just as Li Xin was about to leave. (LX) "Of course elder Guan Yu." He said as he turned around and left. (BM) "Alright guys, I will just go make a quick trip to our most important ally''s HQ and tell them of the news," (XD) "Don''t be gone too quick. Or else we will leave you behind in the dust." Xu Da boasted. (BM) "There is nothing that will make me happier than for that to happen. Be back in a bit. Keep practicing." Baron left his HQ and headed for the elder''s hall so he could meet Madam Zheng again. Once he got there he immediately went to where Madam Zheng''s room was and proceeded to knock on the door. In an instant, the door opened to reveal the first husband of Madam Zheng''s face. (H1) "What do you want Baron? We are a bit preoccupied at the moment." (BM) "This is about the matter with Li Xin. He''s been replaced by someone who isn''t too friendly with you guys." (MZ) "Come in Baron we need to talk about a few more things. There seem to be some movements from Vesper that concerns you as well. It''s perfect timing that you came here, I was about to get someone to call you over." Madam Zheng, faction leader of the Forever Pirates, said inside the room. (H1) "Alright come in." He said as he opened the door. Baron entered and was once again hit by the aroma of salt water. (BM) "What news is there that concerns my Under 1 Banner?" (MZ) "It seems that due to your little display during the Grand Auction a few weeks ago with Wu San Gui the Vesper faction is trying harder and harder to make sure you absolutely do not manage to become an official faction." (BM) "Oh dear. That sounds quite serious." (MZ) "Yes, quite so. They have enlisted the help of three actual aerial masters to face off against you in the faction selection tournament. The ones before can''t even begin to compare to the ones who were invited this time." (BM) "Those damned Vespers sure do love to male trouble for us. How do you think we will fare against them in such circumstances." (MZ) "It''s not impossible but I believe you will need to pull off a series of insane tricks to be able to best these three. They are a really close trio of strategists that just seem to be able to know each other moves even when they aren''t communicating with each other then compliment that move perfectly with another move." (BM) "This might be troublesome. I better make sure to research them thoroughly. I wouldn''t want to face them without knowing their style of tactic beforehand." (MZ) "Yes, that is the best way to go about it. You should know that only one of them is Chinese." (BM) "What? Who are they then?" (MZ) "One of them is Wang Yi, of the Yellow Wang faction. Another is Eumenes of Greece. The final person is William Bridges of the Australian community." (BM) "Wang Yi of China, Eumenes of Greece, and William Bridges of Austalia. Experience, intelligence, and foresight. These are what these three represent. This will definitely be a tough battle." (MZ) "Yes, now let''s talk about the thing with the new person suppressing us." (BM) "Li Xin said that this fellow is someone you rejected?" (MZ) "I bet it''s that sassy little child that is obsessed with me. I don''t even know his name." (BM) "Will you be alright then? Ki Xin did do quite a bit to make sure you suffered as little as possible when he was in charge of this operation." (H1) "Of course we will be. We aren''t so weak that a dubsidiary faction can tip the scales." (BM) "That''s good. How is the research and development of the sea mine coming along?" (H2) "Not too great. Many of the knowledgable people refuse to help us for fear of retaliation from the Vesper''s. I wish we could convince them but they don''t seem to accept no matter how much we are willing to pay them." (BM) "I see. Have you guys thought about the alliance with the Men of Meng faction under Meng Wu?" (MZ) "We don''t really have a need to forge an alliance this early. We are already doing a lot of damage to our reputation just by allying with you guys." (BM) "I see, well if that is all, I will be heading back now. No need to see me out." Baron said as he quietly left to return back to his HQ and explain the current situation to his allies. 59 Farewells (XD) "What? The Vespers have actually decided to contract those three? This will be an extremely troublesome hurdle." Xu Da commented. Baron had returned back to his HQ and had just delivered the bad news to Xu Da and the rest. (BM) "Unfortunately this is the reality of the situation. The only thing we can do is get as much about the three of these aerial masters and try to find a weakness that we can exploit when the faction selection tournament." (YF) "These three are fairly well known within the Chinese community so getting information about them shouldn''t be too difficult. What I''m more concerned about is whether or not we can even beat them." Yue Fei said with a stern face. (HX) "No need to worry about that just yet. I think I may have a plan to destabilize their relationship with some help from another community." Han Xin said wickedly. (BM) "What might this plan of yours be?" (HX) "This plan will involve a few tactics that are deemed unsavory by a strategists standard. However, we need the highest possible chance to win this tournament." (BC) "Just skip to the part where you tell us your plan please." Ban Chao said a bit impatiently. (HX) "Well, throughout my travels throughout the other communities, I have actually stopped by the Australian community where one of the trio is from." (BM) "William Bridges? He should be the one that has been here on planet 4 for the shortest amount of time out of all three of them. What are you planning on doing then?" (HX) "If I bring a few fairly high ranking members of our community then I believe that I can actually make this Australian fellow be unable to participate in the upcoming tournament. Though I must admit that I am not too confident in my chances." (BM) "You will be manipulating things from the shadows? Isn''t that exactly what got you and your clan executed when you were back on Earth? I''m surprised that you would even consider this type of action." (HX) "It''s because our chances are low that I would even consider such a cowardly move. Though this kind of situation is quite common here on Planet 4." (MT) "If I may just add, I think that this is actually the best way to go about this situation. Me and Meng Yi may be semi masters in this field. However, we have gone up against a few masters ourselves and the outcome was that we were completely outclassed in terms of blueprints and tactics." Meng Tian said with a pained expression on his face. (MY) "My brother is correct. We must resort to these measures if we are to have any chance of winning the tournament now. Perhaps with these new blueprints we have shrunk down the gap, but we aren''t anywhere near close to bridging it. We will need to do our utmost best in our practices to do that. I know for a fact that most of the aerial masters residing within the Chinese community have become lazy and have stopped training since it has been a long time since there was anyone that was able to challenge their position." Meng Yi chimed out. (BM) "Have you ever faced any of these three?" (MY) "Not these three specifically but we have seen them battle before. They are no less amazing in their incredible execution and timing of attacks in conjunction with each other. Perhaps even better than me and my brother." (BM) "That is quite distressing to hear. Han Xin, you said you needed to bring a few people with you?" (HX) "Yes, I can influence a bit of the Australian scene since they are relatively new to Planet 4 in general. I''m thinking of bringing Xu Da and Ban Chao with me. The three of us are after all unlikely going to participate in the tournament after all. You only need 5 for that and the three of us are the worst three in this regard." (BM) "I see so you had already thought that far ahead. Are the two of you alright with this?" (XD) "Honestly no I''m not, but being a strategist I can see that this is definitely for the best." (BC) "As much as I would like to get better at aerial warfare, I don''t think I could surpass Han Xin within this short period of time much less you, Baron. So yes I am willing to go through with it as unwilling as I am." (BM) "Wow, you two sure? You would have to go to the Australian community for an unknown period of time." (BC) "It is worth it if we manage to win the tournament." (HX) "I''m glad you two understand what this trip entails. We will leave in three days, and steel your hearts for the outside. The outside is not a friendly place. So make sure that you don''t talk to anyone for any reason. It is an uncivilized world out there. More than you could ever imagine." (YF) "It breaks my heart to hear of all the bad things going on outside of our borders." (HX) "It''s best to not think about such depressing matters. I''ll be going to pack my things first. You two should take care of any unfinished business before you two leave." Han Xin said and immediately left. (BC) "Oh thanks for reminding me. There are actually a couple of things that I have to get done before we leave. I''ll be leaving then as well." Ban Chao said and walked out of the HQ." (XD) "Roger. I think I would rather spend a day in sims though." (GY) "Of course you do." Guan Yu said while stifling a laugh. (XD) "Let the six of us go on a quick sim. I call being on the Meng Duo''s team!" That is what the six of them did. Xu Da partnered with Meng Yi and Meng Tian to go against Baron, Yue Fei, and Guan Yu. The sim they had gone on was an aerial battlefield that didn''t last very long. With the special ability that the sim time was slower than the time on planet 4, Xu Da wasn''t worried about being late to leave with Han Xin and Ban Chao. The six of them had a sim on the dogfight over Guadalcanal. After they finished, Xu Da left to pack his things while the rest of them went into another simulation that lasted a month in the simulation. By the time they came out, Xu Da, Ban Chao, and Han Xin had already departed to go to the Australian community. They decided that it was time for them to get serious in their practice and began a sim with the five of them with the setting of the Battle of Kursk. The battle of Kursk involved aerial warfare as well as what some people refer to as the largest tank battle in history. This battle was between Germany and Russia that went toe to toe in this war. Ultimately, the victors were the defending Russians since the Germans gave them ample time to prepare their defenses. The 5 of them chose this map because they realized that although they were individually pretty well versed in aerial warfare, they were a bit lacking on the side of aerial + land battles compared to masters. The other reason was that they had to work on their teamwork since 5 great individual strategists do not equal a solid team, they had to work for it. The Meng Duo was already very familiar with each other and therefore needed less time together. For this battle, the teams were as follows: Meng Tian and Baron against Meng Yi, Yue Fei and Guan Yu. Meng Tian was chosen to be allied with only one other person since he was considered to be the better of the duo. The 5 of them chose this map because they realized that although they were individually pretty well versed in aerial warfare, they were a bit lacking on the side of aerial + land battles compared to masters. The other reason was that they had to work on their teamwork since 5 great individual strategists do not equal a solid team, they had to work for it. The Meng Duo was already very familiar with each other and therefore needed less time together. The preparation time for this sim was revealed to be 4 months. For setting up supply lines, organizing everything, and building blueprints this was not much time at all. Despite this, they all took this time crunch as a personal challenge to use their time as effectively as possible. The time passed by and the 4 months that had been used as a truce was shattered by the German''s led by Baron and Meng Tian. This was supposed to be a surprise attack on their part as Baron had advised Meng Tian that letting the other side have more time to prepare was not the best course of action. The battle begins. 60 A Surprise In terms of military might, the Russians had the advantage. About 2 million men, over 10,000 tanks, 25,000 guns and mortars, around 3,000 aircraft, and most importantly the home advantage. All these factors made the defending Russians an extremely difficult opponent to deal with.Especially since they could call on a million more men easily. This sim is easier for the defending side to win. However, this didn''t mean that Baron and Meng Tian didn''t have advantages either. The attacking German side had quite a few capable generals that could hold their own for a little while without help should they be in such a situation. Almost 800,000 well-seasoned soldiers, hundreds of panzers that could blitzkrieg, around 10k guns and mortars and thousands of aircraft. In history, the German forces tried to pincer the Russians along the north face and south face of Russian territory. Many German divisions attempted to break through these two faces and meet atKursk to deal the finishing blow to the Russians. This plan had varying levels of success, but after the Russian counterattack, the German forces could not beat them even with more reinforcements. Baron and Meng Tian had also decided to launch their troops to try and break through the north and south face to finish it off in as little time as they could. Of course, committing all of one''s forces for an all-out attack was not the smartest move to play right at the beginning of any war. Instead, Baron had decided to personally take a portion of their forces to try and capture a strategic location that was further south of where they were sending the rest of their troops. Since Baron was going to personally lead this group of men, he had already spent some time drilling them on certain procedures that he deemed would be useful. Right at the beginning of the first day of the war, Meng Tian was in charge of leading their men to break through the north and south face while Baron would slip further south into Russian territory and try to take over the oil mines. There was a whole host of reasons why Baron decided to go through with this plan instead of just helping out Meng Tian up north. This cluster of oil mines made up quite a percentage of Russia''s total oil mines. If these were to fall into Baron''s hands, the oil production of Russia would sharply fall. As an additional plus to Baron, the Germans would be able to move the oil to the main body of tanks and this added oil could be used to gain an incredible advantage. The matter of it was that these mines were undoubtedly going to be fairly heavily guarded. After all, who would let such an important resource go undefended? Baron had gambled on his intuition that Meng Yi, Yue Fei, and Guan Yu would not be here to lead the troops themselves. This is why he made haste to get to these mines as fast as his small division could go. This small detachment consisted of about 2k men, a few hundred heavy artillery, 50 aircraft, and around 100 tanks. If all went well and he was able to successfully get the series of oil mines under his control, then there would be another detachment sent to secure these mines while Baron would make his way to the front lines of the war. Time was of the utmost importance since he had no confidence that he could do anything if the other side decided to send reinforcements to these mines. For this reason, he had already sent in a few spies ahead to soften up the defenses. For the first few days, Baron stealthily made his way toward the oil mines. He made it to the first target after three days of traveling and was able to take it without much trouble. Drop a few bombs, surround the place with tanks, then send in the infantry to subdue anyone inside. All while trying not to hit the reserves of oil of course. It would be pointless if they couldn''t use the oil after they had spent so much manpower to take it in the first place. Once the first mine was under Baron''s control, he radioed for the other army to come in and transport the reserves and transport it back to base. These fellows would take another few days to come so Baron decided to leave a few men behind and proceeded to make their way to the next mine. There were twelve in total and before the news even reached the enemy''s ears, Baron had already taken control over all of them and was in the process of transporting all the oil out. Baron had two choices to choose from at this point. He could divert part of his total army, inferior compared to the Russians, to defend and maintain these oil mines or to just destroy them right after all the oil in reserves were taken out. There were pros and cons no matter which path he decided to go down, however, he ultimately decided that keeping the mines, for now, would be the best course of action he could take. As soon as he made this decision he assigned 50 aircraft to have rotating shifts in order to circle an area of 100 km around the oil mines to scout for any and all enemy attacks. If any such armies were to encroach on this border, the pilots were to radio each oil mine. There was a leader assigned to each mine and they were ordered to destroy the entire mine and get out as much oil as they could should an enemy appear. The most important order they were given was to not, under any circumstance, engage the enemy. This was because Baron knew that if Russian reinforcements did come, these few men would have a very miniscule chance of winning. Therefore, it was best to just burn everything up so the Russians could not reclaim the oil mines. With this successful campaign under his belt, the German forces had boosted morale when they heard the news. Baron only took two weeks to complete this endeavor, yet he could not shake the feeling that something was off during his ride back to central HQ where Meng Tian was. Something unexpected happened in that Meng Tian contacted Baron first. (MT) "Baron, things aren''t looking too good on my end. The three of them have surprisingly disappeared overnight." (BM) "What do you mean disappeared?" (MT) "Last night they were still there patrolling their borders, doing routine stuff, but this morning, they had all seemingly just packed up and left." (BM) "It shouldn''t be possible to move something as large as an army in one night." (MT) "If it was only one of the enemy army pulling this stunt then I wouldn''t feel the need to contact you at all. All of them have just seemingly up and gone away in the course of one night." (BM) "Now that seems to be some sort of ploy to divert our attention somewhere else." (MT) "That''s the point, I don''t have any clue where they are. Radar stations show no sign of any of them. Scouting planes aren''t seeing any movement either. It''s like they weren''t even there to begin with." (BM) "Perhaps they just moved all their forces further inward toward Moscow?" (MG) "Either that or they somehow managed to get behind us to launch an attack." (BM) "No that''s impossible, best to meet up again before we decide on anything that would impact our entire army." (MT) "Sure, just get here as fast as you can." Baron was racking his brain trying to think of how Meng Yi, Guan Yu, and Yue Fei were able to even manage something of this scale without either him or Meng Tian noticing. Once the two of them met up again, they decided to hold a war council with all of the other commanders. They all decided the best course of action was to move the majority of their forces further into Russian territory and see if there were at least some tracks that were left behind that could help lead them to a clue as to what happened to so many troops and machines. Baron and Meng Tian spent half a day just restrategizing and how they were going to move their troops as efficiently as they could. Once they moved most of their forces though, something began to stir behind them. Baron and Meng Tian were blissfully unaware of such a development and continued to get closer and closer to the heart of Russia unopposed. The reason that they couldn''t find where the enemy army had gone was that the enemy forces all went underground. With this single move, Baron and Meng Tian were about to be pincered by Russian forces from the front and back in the very middle of Russia. 61 Battle of Kursk part 2 Baron and Meng Tian continued to move their troops deeper into Russian territory all the while clueless that the enemy had hidden all their forces underground and with each passing moment they were being played harder and harder. War shows the best and worst of anyone and everyone, in war, all cards are left open to the enemy to read. By showing their resolve to quickly win the campaign, Baron and Meng Tian had fallen into a very avoidable trap had they been a bit more cautious. Such is the essence of war, if you rush your enemy too much then only devastation follows. In this case, the Russians were poised to launch an attack onto the attacking Germans on two fronts. Being flanked and having to fight on two sides was a very undesirable position. Regardless, they moved further into enemy territory and redid their plans on how to win the war. These two were still unsure of how their enemies had gave them the slip despite all the scouts and preparations that had been made. (BM) "It is unthinkable that those 3 have the ability to move such vast amounts of men and machines without at least one of our scouts seeing them." (MT) "Indeed, there must be something I missed when we went to check it out for ourselves. The enemy camps seemed to have just been in use when we got there. It would make sense since they supposedly left in the middle of the night." (BM) "I believe that perhaps they actually moved parts of the army before the day ended, only leaving the fastest behind so they could make their escape faster." (MT) "Oh well, perhaps we will get the answers we are looking for later. For now, let''s just focus on making a new strategy." (BM) "Something else doesn''t add up. Why are they not using the deepstrike that we got? It is one deadly weapon, they should have been able to produce a few by now." (MT) "You''re right. However, we have to look at the bigger picture and not the little details that our enemies have left for us." (BM) "On the contrary, I believe that we should not make one. There are too many unknown variables right now so following a plan while we don''t have much info is a pretty bad idea. Though, we should have one for general purposes." (MT) "Yes, so I believe that the enemies have moved to one of two places. Here, and here." Meng Tian said as he pointed out two points on a map. In one glance, Baron could already guess why Meng Tian chose these 2 places. (BM) "These two points would make the most sense to defend. They are after all very advantageous for the defending side. Have you already sent scouts to scope out these 2 places yet?" (MT) "Yes, there is indeed quite a large army in these 2 places, and going by my estimates their numbers do seem to be fairly close with the number that we seen from before. Although it is a little bit less." (BM) "So you want to strike at these two places then?" (MT) "No, I would like to target this one specifically, Kursk. I believe if we just stall the other army and concentrate on this area here, we should be able to win this war in a matter of a few weeks." (BM) "That makes sense, but you should also consider the drawbacks of such an attack. If we were to get flanked in any way shape or form, then I''m afraid that victory would be nigh impossible." (MT) "That is a chance that I''m willing to take. Where would you like to fight? On the Kursk battlefield or the other one?" (BM) "I''ll take some of the more experienced men along with some of the more advanced tech with me to the other battlefield. I''ll leave you with more men than you originally planned." (MT) "Sounds good to me. Good luck." (BM) "You as well, brother." After another day, Baron took a small detachment to the battlefield that was considered a distraction and began simulating all the possible scenarios that was likely to happen. The two of them kept in constant touch through radios, and they arrived at their respective battlefields at nearly the same time. These two places had armies that were roughly equal to each other. However, since Baron only needed to stall his enemy, he did not take much of their overall army and set out. Half of the deepstrikes, a quarter of the Luftwaffe (Aircraft), and about a tenth of the total all the soldiers, and some of their fastest tanks, most of which were well seasoned and experienced in warfare. This other battlefield was named Oboyan and the forces here would be difficult to beat since it was likely that another strategist would be here, maybe even 2. Baron did not fancy his odds of successfully stalling Meng Yi, Guan Yu, nor Yue Fei. He might be able to hold one of them back, but if there were 2 or more, unlikely. Baron knew that out of all five of them, he was not the best. The Meng duo were currently specialized in air warfare. However, that didn''t mean they were completely incompetent in air and sea battles. Just a little less acute. Yue Fei and Guan Yu had been here for centuries, their experience is still great although they may not be as adept in aerial warfare as Meng Tian and Meng Yi. Meanwhile, Baron was the newest out of the bunch. His way of warfare may be new to these guys, but his inexperience plays a large part in it as well. The battle of Oboyan began the very next day that Baron had arrived. He played this very conservatively and did very little to seriously attack the enemy. First he had all of his planes start the attack at very obscure times to catch his enemy off guard. Then launching as many deepstrike missiles as they could, all while the tanks would be engaging in multiple hit and run battles carefully coordinated by Baron. The rest of the soldiers were to provide cover for the others in case they needed any sort of help. This sort of warfare lasted for another three days before Baron started to question everything again. Why were the enemy so disinterested in winning this battle? Did neither of those three come here to defend along with this massive army? Was this perhaps a ploy by the enemy to stall as well? Everything was quite suspicious. Baron realized something too late. He shouldn''t have been wondering where the enemy commanders were. Instead he should have been wondering where they were aiming for. If this battlefield that he was at did not seem to care at all if they won or not, then it was indeed a trap laid by Meng Yi and the others. There were 2 possible targets that would warrant them to not send anyone here to deal with Baron. One was they were trying to take out Meng Tian first so they concentrated all of their efforts in the battle of Kursk. The other was to retake the oil mines that Baron had taken from them just days prior. With the dissappearance of the enemies at the front line, Baron and Meng Tian had been lulled into a false sense of security. 62 Battle of Kursk part 3 On Meng Yi, Guan Yu, and Yue Fei''s side. Meng Yi was talking to the other two. (MY) "This is a most advantageous positioning that the enemy has moved into. However, the most important battlefield will be the Kursk one here. I believe my brother Meng Tian is the one that is leading the army that is coming to Kursk." (YF) "Yes, but we shouldn''t completely put all of our eggs in one basket, should we? I mean the three of us should just be overkill for Meng Tian." (GY) "I think you have misunderstood one of the important facets of war, Yue Fei. Dealing a massive blow to them like losing one of their best strategists in such an upset like this would be way too demoralizing for the troops to even continue to fight." (YF) "While that may be true, Guan Yu, that does not mean the war will be over just by the death of one of the two generals. Baron is still a force to be reckoned with even if all of us have more experience than him." (MY) "That matters not. We will just eliminate Meng Tian before the two of them even begins to comprehend our strategy. Once we manage to do that then even if Baron receives any reinforcements, he will not be able to do anything about this situation." (YF) "Alright. Then let''s make this battle a speedy one." With this, the three of them pooled their knowledge together to form a battle plan in which to beat Meng Tian with as fast as possible. They only had a day or so to set everything up once they did and immediately began to set their army up accordingly. Now the only thing to do was to wait for Meng Tian to arrive. ------------------------------- On Meng Tian''s side. The army of Meng Tian took a few days to get to where the battle of Kursk and immediately began their preparations as well. Meng Tian was the commanding general for this army and the lieutenant went by the name of King. (LK) "General Meng Tian sir, all the preparations have been completed and we are ready to strike the enemy at any time you desire." (MT) "Good, we will begin our barrage immediately. For now, only have the mortar corps take action and we will see just how the enemy reacts. We must not allow our aircraft to take too much damage since they are the crux of our plan. Do you understand Lieutenant King?" (LK) "Yes sir, I will relay this message to the others and get this battle underway." (MT) "Excellent, you are dismissed." Lieutenant King saluted to Meng Tian and left to carry out his orders. The battle began quickly after and the Russian army lead by Meng Yi reacted blindingly fast. There were a few platoons of tanks that rolled into battle to combat Meng Tians mortars. Once Meng Tian heard the news he had his own tanks go engage them. However, he had them engage the enemy tanks by cutting into their sides from such an angle that made it hard for the enemy to shoot them down without taking quite heavy damage first. Once that maneuver was tried out, both sides were just content with shooting each other with mortars and infantry. This lasted for a few days with neither sides gaining any ground. Then a messenger informed Lieutenant King of some very bad news. (LK) "Sir!" (MT) "What is it King? Have we had any successes yet?" (LK) "No that''s not it sir. We have received some very troubling news. There seems to be an army headed for us, an army that is coming attack us from behind." (MT) "Behind? How large is this army?" (LK) "Going by what our reports say, easily half as powerful as the enemy we are currently engaged with. Going by their speed, they should get here by another day of travel." (MT) "Hoh. The emergence of this new enemy is distressing indeed. Leave me for now. I will attempt to come up with a strategy that we can use." (LK) "As you say." Lieutenant King said and did another salute before leaving. This was not a good omen for Meng Tian by any means. To have to fight on two fronts is very difficult to do for very long. Though his army now may be stronger than the enemy, this new army will upset the balance and tip the favor of battle to his enemies'' side. (MT) "Humph, let''s see just how you will be able to defeat me!" Meng Tian said aloud and immediately began to formulate a strategy. --------------------- On Baron''s side. Baron''s intuition was telling him something was off. He had been at this battlefield for a few days now, yet his enemies did not have the same combat capabilities as one should expect to see of Meng Yi, Guan Yu, nor Yue Fei. This led him to conclude that, in fact, none of those three were here to begin with and he and Meng Tian had been played. Quite flawlessly as well. At this moment, Baron received a message from Meng Tian via radio. (MT) "Baron, it seems we have been outplayed in this simulation." (BM) "Are all three of them at your location?" (MT) "Yes, by what I can see at least. I didn''t peg them to bet the majority of their resources on taking me down first. Now it seems I''m being flanked by another army." (BM) "What? This new army can''t be all that big can it?" (MT) "It''s quite big, this new force will tip the balance and I believe that at most I can hold out for 3 days once they get here." (BM) "Got it, I''ll be there as soon as I can. With none of them here at my battlefield this battle that I''m at has no more value. Plus I''ve damaged them to the point of them not being able to interfere anymore." (MT) "Alright." (BM) "Messenger. Give the signal that we are to retreat our forces to go to General Meng Tian''s aid. Also, have the reinforcements that we have stationed in Germany and the oil mines to meet us there as well." (M) "Sir." 63 Battle of Kursk end After Baron made the appropriate precautions to move the bulk of his army he received some rather bad news from the messenger. (M) "General Baron, sir. There have been reports of another army closing in on our location here." (BM) "How many do they number?" (M) "Enough to properly stall us for another few days were we to engage them in actual combat. There is a sizable 50,000 men with quite a few aircraft that has been spotted." (BM) "That is no good. We can''t have someone chasing behind us if we are to ride to Meng Tian''s aid. However, engaging them will only increase the odds us falling deeper into the enemy''s plan. How long until they get close to us?" (M) "Another half day." (BM) "We are really in a pickle now... No matter, I will send some of our officers to engage this new enemy and I will leave for Kursk first." After another round of orders, Baron finally left with the bulk of his army to assist Meng Tian, while also leaving a sizable force to stall the enemy that had come to flank them. It was on the way to Meng Tian''s position that Baron received even more ill tidings. The reinforcements that he had called upon from Germany seemed to be having trouble getting past the first area that was supposedly abandoned. This came as a shock to Baron for a multitude of reasons. The main one being that the reinforcements that he had sent for were by no means a weak force. They would sooner or later punch through whatever shoddy defenses the Russians could think up within a few days. Baron decided that he shouldn''t worry about this matter and continue on his way to the battle around Kursk. It was a few days before he got there but the sight of the battle had made an impression on him. The sight of thousands of bodies littered onto the ground as if it were some decoration. The battle had ended only hours earlier with the capture of Meng Tian as well as the rest of the troops having been scattered about. Meng Tian had sent Baron a radio message just a day earlier about his situation. The combined military prowess that Meng Yi, Guan Yu, and Yue Fei were just too much for Meng Tian himself to handle and he told Baron that his battle was as good as lost. No matter what Meng Tian said, Baron would not readily accept surrender without first thinking about it for a bit. Baron recknoned that even without Meng Tian''s help, he could still win the simulation if his reinforcements made it in time. The first thing that Baron did was to restart the battle of Kursk once again without giving the enemy too much time to recuperate from their losses. This sudden attack from Baron had indeed caught his enemy''s off guard and the battle between the two sides once again raged on. After a day of fighting, Baron received even worse news. Two in fact. His reinforcements have been somehow beaten so badly that they could no longer continue to push into Russia and had instead turned tail and ran back to Germany. The other piece of news was that oil fields that he had worked so hard to capture was in enemy hands once again. Supposedly the reason that none of them had been burnt down as per the instructions he gave was that those men just surrendered without any counterattack. Possibly due to spies. These two pieces of information impacted nearly all of Baron''s plans to win this simulation. First, the news absolutely crushed the morale of his soldiers. If he didn''t have the trust of his men then they would not be able to perform as well in battle. Second was the fact that there is no army coming to help him out as he had planned. This means that what little men he had left were the only ones he could rely on now that he was this deep in enemy territory. If he could somehow make it back to Germany, then he might have come up with something, anything to turn the situation around. However, he did not have that luxury and the enemy surely wouldn''t allow him to escape. Every single one of Baron''s escape paths have been snuffed out by the enemy and there was nothing he could do about it. there would surely be another army, possibly even multiple armies that would be coming to do battle with him as well. Fighting this one battle was tough enough, but the added pressure from other armies would be way out of Baron''s league. Even with the remnants of Meng Tian''s army that he had set to absorb into his own army was not going to be enough. Even so, Baron would not yield and instead of surrendering he decided to continue his barrage of the enemy with everything left in his arsenal designed by himself to deal as much damage to the enemy as possible. Though he still lost in the end, Baron still put up one heck of a fight and impressed everyone. This simulation may have ended up in Meng Yi and the others'' win, all 5 of them had gained an incredible experience that they could look back on and reflect so that their knowledge of the battlefield would increase. The five of them continued to practice on like this for a couple more years until they had decided to take a couple days to relax since they had been going overboard with the whole non stop simulations. Baron was clueless when it came to this stuff so the others, who had been on planet 4 longer than him, decided that the five of them should have a nice week or so to relax and hang out before diving back into their ridiculous training. They decided that it was time to share their inner thoughts and feelings about this world. Even in the afterlife, emotions still play a great part in living. 64 Relaxation Week Baron, Yue Fei, Guan Yu, Meng Tian, and Meng Yi had decided to take a break from their training to take a break, reflect on their lives, and enjoy themselves for a bit. They had decided to hit up the sauna for a bit to relieve some of their pent up stress. (BM) "Hey brothers, I heard that Zhuge Liang, the last overlord if our Chinese community suddenly disappeared. Do you happen to anything about that matter?" Baron said as he looked around in earnest. (GY) "Well, this is a rather interesting topic that you are asking about. Frankly, I have my suspicions that it was the Sun Alliance that caused him to go missing." Guan Yu said sternly. (MT) "I am also of the same mind. The faction that Zhuge Liang used to head was absorbed by the Sun Alliance after their leader''s disappearance." Meng Tian followed up. (BM) "What? How would they even manage to do something like that?" (YF) "Well, there are a couple of different conspiracy theories that have circulated around. The leader of the Sun Alliance, Sun Tzu, came out himself to quell the nonsense that had caused his faction to lose a large amount of face." (BM) "Sun Tzu himself? Could it be that he is also involved with this?" (MY) "Though that would make the most sense, no one really dares to question his morals. That is due to the large amount of power that he and his faction has. However, he and his most trusted aides haven''t been in the Chinese Community for well over half a millenium, it is now mostly his elders and such that run his faction." Meng Yi answered. (BM) "Where has he gone to?" (GY) "From what I know, he is at the United States community. That is how the Grand Auction was able to sell so many advanced technologies. Some sort of deal with the United States I hear." (BM) "Well, enough of that then, I''m sure he will come back before the next Death Match system. This sauna sure is great." (YF) "This sauna was actually commissioned by the Sun Alliance. As is most of what you see here in the Chinese Community. Before that faction managed to gain any following, we were nowhere near the ranking we are today. Sure we could still fight very well, but we didn''t have the foundation that many of the other communities had." (GY) "Don''t forget to mention that that honor goes to both Sun Tzu and Zhuge Liang. They were quite close I heard." (BM) "Their relationship just makes the mystery get more and more complicated." (MT) "I think I''m done with the sauna for today, anyone up for some food?" (BM) "Food is such a luxury here since sustenance is not required for us to continue on living. Are you having cravings or something?" (MT) "We have to treat ourselves once in a while shouldn''t we?" (BM) "I suppose that''s true." (YF) "I was just about to get out too." (GY) "Same for me." The 5 of them got up, got dressed and went to a high end restaurant and began to talk again while waiting for the food to come. (BM) "What are your thoughts on this planet when you first came here?" (GY) "I remember that I was quite shocked to see that there existed an afterlife that would see even more barbarity than the middle kingdom." (YF) "I am of the same mind, however, I leaned more towards the thought that this was another chance at life. No matter how much suffering there was back on earth, this one planet alone makes that pale in comparison. Not even mentioning the other planets that are even worse than our planet 4." (MT) "Well, I thought nothing of it since It''s just not in my nature to. A brief shock perhaps, but otherwise not much other reactions came to me." (MY) "As for me, there was a moment of doubt in my mind that all that I had done back on Earth was for naught if this was the place that I would spend the rest of eternity. What about you Baron?" (BM) "I just kept thinking that I needed to get back to Earth as soon as I could. That goal of mine is still unchanged" (YF) "You still wish to win the tournament?" (BM) "Yes I do. I just need to keep surrounding myself with strong allies and sooner or later I will have enough power." (GY) "...I think now is a good time to tell you about how the tournament works. This is not something just anyone is able to enter. What do you know about the tournament so far?" (BM) "That one must wait 1,000 years before they are allowed to enter the tournament." (GY) "Well, that is not the case, but it isn''t much different from the truth." (BM) "What do you mean by that?" (GY) "Only 10 factions of any given community are allowed to enter into the tournament. However, only the top brass of each community is allowed to enter at all. The reason that you must wait a thousand years before you can enter isn''t actually a rule, more like a time for you to consolidate your power and fight your way to the top of the ranks." (BM) "Then what about Madam Zheng? Will she be able to enter?" (GY) "Though her faction is not in the top ten, I believe she will be chosen to represent us in the following tournament even if she hasn''t been here for a thousand years. That is just how much of an important figure she is right now to us." (YF) "She has made a name for herself after all, though I believe that she is fighting an unfavorable battle if she wishes to be chosen. The other possible candidate that specializes in sea warfare has been here for far longer than she has been, and naturally will have made more powerful allies along the way." (BM) "Perhaps it would be wise if we helped them out to the fullest of our abilities so that they can become greater allies for us in the future. 65 Relaxation Week part 2 Baron, Meng Tian, Meng Yi, Yue Fei, and Guan Yu were finally served what they had ordered and started to eat. Then, Baron got curious once again and could not help but ask. (BM) "What are your stances on war?" (MT) "My brother and I are very similar in that regard. Even though both of us show an incredible talent for this, but we both don''t care much for it." Meng Tian replied before he was interrupted by his brother Meng Yi. (MY) "That is true, however, our father is a fanatic for war,he would rush into enemies headfirst himself. The thrill of it is what makes him alive. For that man, its either war or nothing. As for us, well, we''re more for architecture and defense. We do come from a long line of generals and architects, after all." (BM) "That is true, I have read about that before. Guan Yu?" (GY) "Well, the thing is, when I was still alive on planet earth, the war was the only constant in a sea of uncertainties. With that being said, I still believe that war should be, how you say, unnecessary. Even here where we don''t really kill any living being. For what are we fighting each other for? Fame, prestige, money? If you ask me, I haven''t even left Earth at all." (BM) "Then for what reason do you still fight?" (GY) "To find the truth of this world. No matter how great I become, or how much fame is rewarded to me. I still haven''t found the answer. However, I will not give up. Finding the truth of this planet is what I have decided to do with my unceasing will." (BM) "We will get there, for now just relax and try to find solace in the fact that almost no one knows all the secrets of this world. We will eventually get to that point. What about you Yue Fei?" (YF) "Well, to be honest, just helping as many people as I can with my power. Yourself, Baron?" (BM) "There is just something I left behind back on Earth that I must get back to no matter what." (MT) "Must be something really important if you still haven''t forgotten it these many years after dying." (BM) "Of course." (GY) "So Baron, tell us of how many blueprints you have in that noggin of yours. From what I hear and see, you must have quite a few. Do you specialize in anything?" (BM) "Well, I may know how to build quite a few blueprints, however, they are mostly for use on land and I only know a handful about sea and air blueprints. This is because I prefer land battles, and have naturally researched more about them while I was still alive." (MT) "Interesting, could it be that you like battles that allow you to take command of forces that number in the hundreds of thousands?" (BM) "Perhaps, but with the technology that just keeps getting more and more advanced, I feel like war is becoming duller and duller. In your times, generals that rise to the top are mostly geniuses that also weren''t afraid to go and inspire the troops on. Now, it''s all about who has the better tech." (MT) "You should know, humans are a species that constantly hungers for more. More power, more money, more advanced technology so we can enslave others of our own race. This is considered one of the fundamental human traits in my book, as well as the reason that we were able to be the dominant species on Earth." (YF) "Sadly, that is the reality back when I was alive, and likely still the same when you were alive, Baron. Mostly likely still the case in 500 years after your death Baron, possibly even a million years into the future if we haven''t managed to somehow end ourselves. ''Tis a stark realization, but an important one." (BM) "From what I have experienced, both of you are correct in saying that." (YF) "You have any friends you miss, Baron?" (BM) "Friends? Well, I may not have had much of those since I spent the majority of my time researching battles, and whatnot. However, I have had quite a few friends over my brief life. My good buddy was also a board-mate with me through much of my years in military school. He was such a hilarious fellow. Though his warfare is lacking quite a bit, he has got the blueprints of multiple highly advanced ships and aircraft in that mind of his." (YF) "Wait, do you think that this friend of yours that you mention will have a chance to come here to Planet 4?" (BM) "In my mind, it is unlikely for him to be interested in strategy enough as he is interested in other matters. I will admit that if he did come here, we would be a lot better off, but the chances of that happening is slim. Don''t get your hopes up." (YF) "That''s unfortunate. No matter though, we will still win the faction selection tournament without his help." (GY) "You got that right." (BM) "I''ve been thinking, maybe we should host another mini-tournament so that we can test our aerial prowess again. The last time we did that was quite a number of years ago before we met the Meng duo." (GY) "Another tournament? Going by my calculations, the number of people that showed up last time was good, but not their quality. If possible it would be a better use of our time if we only attracted masters." (MT) "I don''t want to be that guy, but I think it is better if we went to an already set up tournament to test our abilities. There is one that starts in about two years time, and the best part is that if you aren''t at least able to pay the entrance fee of 1,000 silver coins, then you won''t even be able to enter." (BM) "That''s good. Then that means that only people who have money and are confident in their skills will even dare to enter. Is that correct?" (MT) "Indeed. I believe that this is the tournament hosted by the Sun Alliance so it is a very big deal. Many will enter and the prized will be huge. If we manage to make it far enough into the tournament then we can instead pick something from their personal storage to take." (BM) "Really? Well, we should focus on testing our abilities first. Everything else should come second." 66 Relaxation Week part 3 The Meng duo, Guan Yu, Yue Fei, and Baron were still discussing about the tournament that the Sun Alliance was setting up. (BM) "I have not been to any of these official tournaments, is there anything that I need to know so that I can prepare?" Baron asked. (MT) "I have been to this tournament many times in the past and there are actually 3 separate subcategories that are all under this name. As you guessed, it is the air, land, and sea. I have participated in the air portion multiple times." Meng Tian replied. (BM) "Are we allowed to enter into more than 1 category?" (MT) "Most people do, the entry fee for the first category is 1,000 if you want to do 2, then the fee to enter is 1,700. If you want to do all 3 then that will cost 2,000 silver coins. With the prized of all 3 being the same, most people wouldn''t let such a good chance go to waste." (BM) "I see, how far have you gotten into the tournament?" (MT) "I have personally broken into the top 50, while my brother, Meng Yi, is about the top 100." (MY) "This tournament is no joke I tell you. Just when you think that you have won, you find out that the master that you are up against has played you the entire time. The amount of masters you go up against is certainly worth it for the price, just being able to go against someone that you normally wouldn''t get to is very beneficial to anyone who is seeking to become a master." (BM) "I gather that means we will be able to spectate each match?" (GY) "Yes, I believe that the best part of any tournament is to spectate and see how each strategist reacts to certain situations. The endless combinations of moves available to both strategists in even a single battlefield is always fascinating." Guan Yu added. (BM) "I see, that does make sense. When do we register?" (MT) "Just when we get there. Part of that fee goes into taking care of us like providing a room to rest and collect our thoughts. There is one last thing that you should know though. Official tournaments like this one and the faction selection tournament and the deathmatch tournament have very strict rules." (BM) "How strict?" (MT) "You know how so far in your sims, you have the strength and health of around 50 men?" (BM) "Yes?" (MT) "Well, you will once again you will have the stats of a regular man, this means that assassinations are much more common. You had best be wary of everyone around you. Heck, even your own soldiers will turn on you, or even bribed, if you aren''t careful enough." (BM) "Interesting, I suppose that that is why people who know how to fight is quite a hot profession here." (MT) "Indeed, no matter how good you are at warfare you will not be able to do much in war if you are dead. Many people are willing to go to these lengths just so they can increase their chances of winning." (YF) "Well, though they are fairly common in the deathmatch tournament it isn''t very common in the community hosted events. Still, exercise caution and and you will be glad you did." Yue Fei added. (BM) "That is very solid advice, thanks for telling me before hand. How do you think we will fare in this tournament then?" (MT) "As the one with the most experience in the air battles, I say we have got quite a good shot that one of us makes it into the top 25, with some degree of luck of course. I can''t say for the other two battlefields as I usually don''t even bother with those two categories." (GY) "This is where I have a little more depth than you, Meng Tian. I have been to a few of this particular tournament''s, while I am quite confident in my abilities on land, I couldn''t even hold a candle to these guys." (BM) "That is quite a statement considering you are our best land based strategist." (GY) "Unfortunately so, the winner last time was Wang Jian of the Yellow Wang faction and also one of the top 20 elders. Similarly, this tournament is hosted about 50, 100, and 150 years before every faction selection tournament. For quite a while now, the Yellow Wang faction''s four co leaders have dominated the land portion." (BM) "You mean Wang Jian, Li Mu, Lian Po, and Bai Qi?" (GY) "Correct, in fact within the last 20 or so tournaments the four of them have always placed within the top ten." (BM) "Is there no one else in the other two great factions that can best them? Why are they placing so highly?" (GY) "From what I understand. The Sun Alliance is quite content with just spectating the tournament and most elders of that group aren''t interested in joining the tournament. Also, the leader of the Sun Alliance, Sun Tzu, as well as the core of his faction hasn''t been back in nearly 500 years. If they did participate, then the Yellow Wang faction will almost certainly be pushed out of the first place spot." (BM) "What is the situation for the other great faction then?" (GY) "..." (BM) "What? (YF) "The reason that Guan Yu is hesitating is because¡­ well, there hasn''t been much news concerning them recently." (BM) "How is that possible for a faction as large as Middle Kingdom?" (YF) "We''re just as confused as you are. Their leader hasn''t done anything noteworthy in over a century. It doesn''t seem like the elders and those within the inner circle are that much more active either. There have been rumors going around that they are either preparing something big, or in the process of disbanding." (BM) "Is there any basis for those claims? I have a hard time believing such bold claims." (YF) "Yes, there has been a story that''s been going around recently¡­" 67 Relaxation Week part 4 (YF) "...There has been a rumor going around that the leader of Middle Kingdom the second most powerful faction in the Chinese community, Wu Qi, has been offered to be absorbed by the Sun Alliance." Yue Fei said." (BM) "Is that so? That is quite unexpected if true." Baron frowned. (YF) "Although it is a rumor, this rumor comes from one of the elders of Middle Kingdom. So this rumor has been highly controversial. I don''t think the Sun Alliance has said anything regarding the matter though." (GY) "This has some elements of the disappearance of Zhuge Liang, the leader of one of the ex 3 great factions." Guan Yu remarked. (BM) "In what ways?" He asked curiously. (GY) "A few months before Zhuge Liang''s disappearance, there was also a rumor of the Sun Alliance asking for a merger between those two. The kicker is that Wu Qi, Sun Tzu, and Zhuge Liang has been all but inseparable when the 3 of them were together. I don''t want to doubt the integrity of Sun Tzu, but there seems to be mounting evidence of him being behind the fall of the ex 3 great factions." (MT) "I have had a few remarks with many elders in the Middle Kingdom, and the Sun Alliance and most of them have no idea about what happened. It seems if there is a conspiracy to be had, it goes all the way to the top of our leaders." Meng Tian sighed. (BM) "This place just gets more and more interesting by the day. I wonder then, what could Wu Qi be doing if he hasn''t been active for over a century?" (MT) "It''s anyone''s guess. Though at the moment, only the four co leaders of the Yellow Wang faction are present and active." (MY) "I don''t think that Sun Tzu is necessarily doing this for the sake of greed. However, it can''t be understated that he has made quite a few bold moves in the last thousand or so years." (BM) "Indeed." At this moment, they had finished their food and had decided to make their way to the public game room, where Yue Fei had first tested Baron when he arrived at planet 4. They had agreed to spend a few hours to take a look at the game room and catch up with some of the regulars there. The game room was in a public building that was part of one of the largest buildings around, only being surpassed by the many buildings that were the property of the Sun Alliance. There were actually many game rooms all around the community for ease of access to simulations. (GY) "Oh right! I had forgotten to tell you guys since we had gotten so into training, but I had finally gotten enough contribution points to become one of the top 50 elders." (BM) "Congratulations. You deserve it, although now that I think about it, Han Xin, Ban Chao, and Xu Da will have their progress halted since they are not within the community at the moment." (YF) "It can''t be helped, they are doing the best they can to help us achieve our dream of forming a faction. We must not let their efforts go to waste and become even more well versed in aerial warfare than we are now." (MT) "Indeed, though you guys should still remember that my brother and I will be leaving once we help you complete that dream. Unless something comes up of course." (BM) "Don''t worry, your help is not something we should rely on anyways. If we are to become a force to be truly reckoned with, we need to up our abilities to the extreme." (MT) "That is the understatement of the¡­ well, forever I suppose. I have been here for quite a long time. During that time, I have seen the rise and fall of many factions both small and large." (BM) "Didn''t you die around the time that the 4 co leaders of the Yellow Wang faction members died too?" (MT) "Yes, that is the case. The funny thing is that I actually managed to arrive onto planet 4 before any of them though. It took them close to another 20 or so years before the first of them even managed to come." (BM) "That is interesting considering you died before they did." (MT) "Well, this is the afterlife. Nothing has to make sense even if we will it to. If you ask me, this entire planet and the reported thousands of others make no sense. Who has set up this system so that it runs this way?" (BM) "We may never know the answer to that question." (GY) "Anyway, the reason I brought up my promotion is that I finally have the right to access the simulation reports of everything that has ever occurred in the Chinese community save for a few." (BM) "That''s amazing, that means we can see just what types of strategies that our opponents prefer to use in battle." (MT) "Though the tournament hosted by the Sun Alliance doesn''t do pre registers, I still have a pretty good grasp of who will be there at the tournament. The aerial portion at least, as for the other two I can''t help you there. I suggest you start with Wang Jian, Bai Qi, Li Mu, and Lian Po." (BM) "That''s a good idea. For the sea battle, I will just go ask Madam Zheng, or her two husbands. I will be participating in the air and land portion. How about the four of you?" (MT) "Only the air battle for me, I have no interest in the other two fields." (MY) "That is my mentality as well." (GY) "I''ll be participating in all 3." (YF) "As will I." With their intentions for the tournament clear, the 5 of them started to chat and analyze the sims that were folding out in front of them. Note that to the ones spectating, the sims are going 7 times faster. They stayed at the game room for a few hours as they had initially planned then made their way to the place where they could check out some of the sims that had gone down in the history of the Chinese community. 68 Relaxation Week part 5 Baron, Guan Yu, the Meng duo, and Yue Fei checked out the grand hall of records for a bit before the Meng duo had to leave for other matters. Henceforth, Baron, Guan Yu, and Yue Fei were all alone in the building that was restricted to only elders that were ranked 50 or higher. This was because many of the elders that had already obtained this rank had checked this place out hundreds of years ago and forgotten about it since they had much better things to do. This hall of recordings was just a maze of a few dozen or so simulation helmets set up on pedestals and a few beds and chairs to sit on to view the sims. For the 3 of them, this was the first time that they had been here and therefore they did not really know where to start. So they just picked up the sim helmets, sat down, and put it on. They went through the settings and to their surprise it was overly simple on what they wanted to see. The only thing they had to do was input the names of the strategist that they wanted to see and a list of sims popped up along with multiple filters. (BM) "Hey guys, remember that for now, we should focus on watching aerial fights, but watching a few in the other categories won''t hurt either." Baron said. (GY) "Not to worry, I''ll just dip my nose in a few land battles then head for some of the higher level aerial showdowns." Guan Yu replied. (YF) "As will I. We will still be able to come back after our faction selection tournament so stressing about land battles right now seems pretty useless." Yue Fei agreed. Yue Fei had decided that he would spend a bit of his time focusing on the finals of the previous few tournaments, the ones where the 4 co-leaders of the Yellow Wang faction had come to dominate. As for Guan Yu, he had made up his mind to dive straight into the aerial battlefields and immediately began to study everything and anything the masters of the craft had done. Baron decided that he would spectate one match that Sun Tzu had participated in, then head right for the aerial battles. Much to his dismay, he found that no records existed of him anywhere. (BM) "Guan Yu, how come I can''t access anything of Sun Tzu''s?" (GY) "I believe I had heard of some talks of certain people not coming up due to their high profile." (BM) "I searched up Zhuge Liang, and Wu Qi but none of them show up. However, it seems like the 4 co-leaders of the Yellow Wang faction are still available to us. I suppose I''ll take a look and see what they have to offer." (GY) "Mmm." Guan Yu agreed as he was starting to get really into his simulation. The replay that they were seeing was rather simple. There were choices between which field of view you could see from, such as the actual battlefield, view of however many strategists that were involved, an overall view of the forces of both sides, and much more. Since it would not be worth it to watch when nothing was happening, there was a slider function available so as to speed up the recording, much like a video. The recordings were able to be played out much faster than normal time and that made enjoying the sims that much more amusing. This allowed the 3 of them to continuously watch sim after sim, hour after hour. Until, the Meng duo came in to check on them 3 days later. Meng Yi was the first to speak. (MY) "You guys are still here? That is quite impressive." Meng Yi said in wonder. (BM) "What? How long has it been?" (YF) "Wait, has it already been 3 days? That''s how long you guys said you would be gone for." (MT) "Indeed it has been 3 days, you guys sure seemed to have enjoyed yourselves in our absence. Haha." Meng Tian joked. (BM) "How about you two join us? I''m sure you wouldn''t want to miss this opportunity to scope out our opponents for the tournament in 2 or so years right?" (MT) True enough." With that statement, the 5 of them would spend the rest of their relaxation week looking through all the simulations they could. Analyzing and memorizing what was happening on the battlefield that they had the blessings to see. Though, no matter how many sims they saw, replicating tactics would be very risky unless you had the talent to properly grasp the context and timing that was the most optimal for that one specific maneuver. Let alone the dozens that they had witnessed during their time there. Even on their proclaimed "week off" the 5 of them had nothing but thoughts of the battlefield on their minds. So much so that many of them were unwilling to leave the grand hall of records after the time that they had set to have a break. Filled with an endless amount of new ideas of how to react a certain way to an enemy attack, and various other moves they had wanted to test out. They traveled back to their HQ for a slight break then, back to training they go. They had wanted to test out multiple theories they had had an epiphany on during their time reviewing the records. Of course, many of these strategies would be unlikely to actually be of use on the battlefield. However, the few they deemed to be helpful was worth it for the amount of effort that they had put into. At first, the 5 of them set out independently to test out their own concoctions, but after awhile they had decided to once again have another match up between themselves. This time, it would be Meng Tian and Guan Yu against Meng Yi, Baron and Yue Fei. The setting: an equal battlefield where both sides will get to choose what their army is made up of as well as the terrain that the two sides could decide on. This type of battle that they would be engaging in would be composed of a million man army pitted against a million man army. 69 Making The Preparations Since this battle field did not revolve around any particular war in history, the two sides could decide what troops they wanted to field. Meng Yi, Yue Fei, and Baron had decided to take this choice into careful consideration. The amount of time that they took to make this decision was definitely longer than any normal group. In the end they had decided that out of their million man army they would have half of that number be the infantry on the ground which would be armed with standard guns and such. Another 200,000 would be tasked to be on heavy artillery duty. 150,000 would be dedicated to defense. 25,000 would become pilots. The rest would be assigned various other tasks such as producing weapons for the other soldiers. The three of them decided it best if they split up their roles in this battle. Baron, and Yue Fei was tasked with offensive duties. This meant that the two of them would have to be the ones to lead the attack on the enemy. While Meng Yi would stay behind and protect the fort. There was only one choice left to make, what terrain should they choose so as to increase the difficulty to siege. Since Meng Yi was on defense duty, he was the one to decide. In the end he chose to construct a base in a not so hilly valley that was surrounded on all sides by multiple mountains. On each separate mountain, they had also constructed military outposts to warn the main base in case of enemy attack. This type of general layout is how many of the official tournaments are done. Not with any particular war in history, this is done to see who is the best strategist given the same resources as everyone else is. Since this was a practice simulation they could choose the preparation time and ended up with 6 months to prepare themselves for combat. The actual fighting part of wars is the only part that a strategist can show their brilliance. The preparation phase is just as if not as important since if there are weak preparations that have been completed, that would just make the enemy an edge to beat you with. The first thing that needed to be done was to set up the bases with the proper technology so as to relay orders properly and efficiently. In this regard, Baron could be seen as the one out of all of them as having the most up to date knowledge of these devices and technology. However, with his limited understanding of the infrastructure of all these he couldn''t do much except the basics. He made a mental note to buy the blueprints for it later or recruit someone who knew this better than he did. The next area that they needed to focus on was that the soldiers would need to get proper training for 2 main purposes. The first was that better trained soldiers would be more effective on the field. While the other was that all these soldiers would have nothing more than patrol duties for the next few months. Baron, and Yue Fei designed a training regiment for the multiple troops that they housed. The pilots would spend more time in the air working on mimicking the leader''s movements. Many of the other troops would be subjected to target practice for the majority of their preparation time. The two offensive strategists would supervise the drills for the first few days then pass on the authority once they felt thateveryone knew what to expect in the training. The completing of the base of operations and the other outposts were completed a few months into their prep time and in the meantime the 3 of them did all they could to get their spies into the enemy camp. Likewise they were trying to be wary of who they told their battle plans to. Since it was almost certain that there were spies in their camp already. In the presence of a million faceless soldiers, who would notice a few extra? The amount of prep time that they had put into this operation was staggering. Once the time of the first day of battle was drawing near, Yue Fei and Baron would move their respective armies to their own chosen base and began a waiting game to see which side would cave in and start attacking first. It could be said that the 5 of them knew fairly well of each other''s tactics, but in an actual battlefield, the reactions of any strategist is never guaranteed. The unpredictability of war is especially apparent when facing extremely quick thinking generals. In the end, Yue Fei was the first to make a move. He had moved a portion of his army to engage with an enemy base that he believed had the least chance of housing either Guan Yu or Meng Tian. He did this because although this enemy base could still receive orders from those two, their decisions were almost certainly going to be flawed since they weren''t their in person to witness the battle. They made their way to the specified base and met no resistance on the way there and was only stalled a bit before swiftly conquering the first base. Yue Fei decided to push his luck and pursued to the site of 2 more bases which he also took down in no time flat before making his way back to his own base. His two teammates obviously knew of his movements and they communicated with each other as soon as he got back to friendly territory. (BM) "What''s the situation, Yue Fei?" Baron asked out of curiosity. (MY) "It didn''t seem like the enemy was particularly interested in stopping your advance. Meng Yi questioned. (YF) "I find this situation suspicious as well, I''m not too sure why they did not at least send reinforcements to help out the 3 struggling bases I had just felled. I find it hard to believe that they would just let me take out 3 bases without getting something back in return." Yue Fei remained cautious. 70 Baited Yue Fei got back to his base before he took the time to think about why it was that his opponents, Guan Yu and Meng Tian, didn''t react to his obvious provocations to do battle. First off, the 3 bases he just took were definitely no high value targets. This meant that they were some of the more expendable bases out of their whole territory. That is reasonable. Something else that was possible was that the two of them were targeting something that they felt more important than protecting those three now conquered bases. There might be something that they were targeting, but it shouldn''t be anything too important this early in the game. Yue Fei sent the prisoners that came from the 3 defeated bases to work in manufacturing weapons for Yue Fei''s soldiers. They were then promptly moved further inwards towards the base. There was a building where they worked lived and slept. Though not a lot, this first wave of soldiers was the first out of many. Baron and Yue Fei waited a few more days to gauge Guan Yu, and Meng Tian''s reactions. Once they saw that their enemies weren''t making a move, they readied multiple armies and set forth to takea huge swath of land and prisoners to work and build even more weapons. After a month of this type of continuous attacks, Guan Yu and Meng Tian still hadn''t shown themselves. This deeply worried Baron and Yue Fei, so after they had decided that sieging bases was no longer they both decided to withdraw back to safe territory as two massive armies to ensure safety. This instead worked against their favour. On their way back, they encountered a bunch of grouped up mortars constantly firing at them. Every group had 5 mortars, and 10 people. They were tasked with trying to stall out the enemies for as long as possible. This may not have been very effective numbers wise, but the constant threat of death was looming over every soldier that these two had brought with them. In just the first day of this alone, Baron and Yue Fei had found and destroyed hundreds of these units, but there was always more that showed up. At almost the exact moment, both of them had split up their army into much smaller fragments so as to deal with these nuisances. They were somewhat successful, these smaller units were still quite big so their presence was still able to be located by the enemy. Another few days of this passed and the enemy switched out their plan to having the mortars firing blindly into the night as well. This was a difficult position to fight the enemy back, even if they knew where the mortars were, there could already be ambushes waiting for any fools that would try. The two of them stayed their hands until daybreak and continued on like any other. Once the two armies finally made it onto friendly territory, they were quick to find out that they had been played. In front of them, an army that was close to half their combined numbers were pointing their guns at them. Baron and Yue Fei assessed the situation and thought it was best to just have the majority of the army stay and for a portion to sneak away to get a jump on their enemy. This was the plan, but while sneaking around to surprise the enemy, Baron caught a wisp of another army coming in to the enemy''s aid. Baron quickly returned to Yue Fei and the army he stayed to command. (BM) "Yue Fei! There is another army that I estimate to be around 50k soldiers that have come to the enemy''s aid. If we were even before, it won''t be that way for much longer. What do you think our next course of action should be?" (YF) "Though this is bad news, we shouldn''t be panicking just yet. How long do you think it will take them to get here?" (BM) "At most another day, I could get back so quickly because I only took the fastest men with me. They are coming in from southwest of our current position." (YF) "Request aid from the other bases then." (BM) "I don''t think that will be a good idea. What if this is what the enemy is planning and as soon as we get reinforcements they send another army in to deal just as many or even more damage that we have done to them?" (YF) "That''s possible. How about we call Meng Yi and ask for his opinion?" (BM) "That''s a good idea. Mess-" (M) "Sir, Meng Yi on the radio." (BM) "Meng Yi?" (MY) "Baron, I know that you guys are in a bit of a pickle, but-" (BM) "Did you already get word about the other enemy coming from the southwest?" (MY) "Oh¡­ You won''t like the news I have for you then. There is another army coming for you guys to the north. Their estimated time of arrival is another 3 days. We have reason to believe that Guan Yu is personally going to be leading this army that numbers close to 100,00." (BM) "This isn''t good. Is it possible for you to send reinforcements to us?" (MY) "Yes, that should be a breeze, but the thing with that is that since I am in the middle of a bunch of mountains that could take a while to do. This base is a double edged sword unfortunately." (YF) "It matters not how long they take. Just get them here as fast as you can manage to do. Our current army is not in the most optimal position to be fighting an army nearly twice their size." (MY) "Alright, I''ll begin immediately." (BM) "Good, I''ll go stall the enemy coming from the southwest for a bit. You focus on the enemy here, Yue Fei." (YF) "Good luck brother." (BM) "You as well." The two of them looked determinately at each other before Baron left with close to 20k soldiers. Intent on stalling them, or even making them retreat, if it was possible. 71 Quad Fein Baron had just left to engage an enemy army of 50,000 with his 20,000 when another radio message came. This time it came from one of the assigned captains from one of the bases by the name of Captain Sonic. (CS) "Urgent report, sir. My base is under attack." Captain Sonic told Baron. (BM) "What is the damage so far?" (CS) "Not too bad as of now, but with the size of this army plus all the heavy hitters they brought with them, I''m not too sure how long I can hold them off." (BM) "Have a small detachment from some of the other bases nearest to you circle around the enemy and proceed to attack together." (CS) "Alright." Baron thought to himself how he had fallen for such a basic ploy. While he and Yue Fei were busy dealing with the armies that were meant as distractions, the enemy would take a huge swath of land and bases. The two of them were powerless to stop such an advance and would have to sacrifice one thing to save the other. They could sacrifice a huge number of men to save the base that was under attack, or they could sacrifice one of the bases they put so much effort and work into. This was a common theme in war, do you go for quality or go for quantity? On the one hand, if you have a great many bases, it will surely cause the enemy to slow down your enemy. If you lose a few bases, who cares? On the other hand, building quality forts will be able to slow the enemy advancement as well, even if you have less of them. However, losing just one of these bases will sting more. This was the difference between Baron''s side and Guan Yu''s side. Baron and his team had decided it was for the best if they built a few quality bases since they would be built on or around a small mountain. It was slightly easier to defend this place than it was to attack it. This was due to the terrain, and how vehicles would have a hard time getting into a proper attacking position and being as effective in battle as they should be. The only thing that Baron could hope to achieve with this new army is to hopefully have his base stall long enough for reinforcements to arrive. This new development meant that Baron needed to move his plans a little bit bigger. Soon enough, Baron had encountered the army he had set out to stall and immediately began his attacks. No matter what happens now, Baron could not hope to stall this army, he instead had to cripple it enough to force him to retreat. Who knew what other surprises the enemy had prepared for them. The fact that he received the news of the movements of these armies was a testament to his opponent''s skill in moving large amounts of men without slipping up to the spies that had infiltrated their ranks. Since the army that he was facing included neither Guan Yu nor Meng Tian, he was able to swiftly corner them on multiple fronts and slowly chipped away at their strength. At the end of the day, he retreated his men into the densely packed forest where his enemies would be hard pressed to find him. At the same time, he had many scouts set up so that he would know where the enemy soldiers were at during all times. All of the soldiers were given orders to immediately get some rest as they would be going back out to do battle in the dead of night. Baron prepared meticulously for this plan for hours. First, he would order an airstrike on the location of the enemy camp. The pilots were ordered to drop only a few bombs on the camp then immediately retreat before the enemy could get their own planes up into the sky. This first part was nothing more than a distraction. The second course of action was to unleash multiple infantry units around the camps amidst all the confusion. These infantrymen would shoot their guns blindly into the camps to create even more confusion. This too was nothing more to draw the enemy away from the most important part of this night raid. The actual important part of this plan, or at least half of it, was the 20 or so special forces that would sneak their way into the camp to kill all the enemy tacticians and generals. The other half was the tanks that would roll in and destroy all the enemy vehicles that would be guarded, but most likely unmanned. With the excellent leadership of Baron and the precise timing that he had given his troops, the plan went off without a hitch and by the morning the devastation to the 50k army was so large that they were ordered to retreat back to their territory. For this plan, Baron had taken less than a day to drive one of the armies away. For anyone on the battlefield, swiftness was key, and Baron had spectacularly shown that by mercilessly taking out not only the commanders but also many valuable instruments of war. While Baron was returning back to Yue Fei''s army, he received a rather distressing call from Meng Yi. (MY) "Not good Baron, the 100k army being led by either Guan Yu or Meng Tian has switched course after you drove off that army." (BM) "Where are they going? To aid the other army that is laying siege to one of our bases?" (MY) "I wish, that option would''ve been more preferable. They have instead set their sights onto base Alpha, one of our most strategically important bases in the outer region." (BM) "That''s even more north than the base that is already being sieged. To the south would be Yue Fei''s battle, and even more south would be my position." (MY) "This situation is not too dire as of yet. I have already ordered the reinforcements that I have sent out to instead change direction to base Alpha." (BM) "I honestly can''t comprehend what those two plan to achieve by making this move. It is unlikely that they will be able to take over base Alpha until the reinforcements arrive. Unless¡­" (MY) "Unless they plan to ignore every other base and directly attack our main base of operations where I am stationed at. If we lose that, we lose the sim." 72 Battle Plan Meng Yi had just finished his thoughts when he got a report stating what he had just described. There was a large army headed right for him, if this base falls, the sim would end up as their defeat. Meng Yi decided to fill Baron in on the situation. (MY) "Baron, it is as you have described. There is an enemy army fast approaching my location." (BM) "I''m quite surprised that your brother and Guan Yu would be so bold as to ignore all the other bases along the way and go straight for the main base. It is a plan that makes no sense and is hardly ever used since it would expose them to a myriad of flanking maneuvers." (MY) "I believe that my judgments are to blame for this. Had I not chosen to make the bases pretty much on steep mountains, they would never had the gall to implement such a crazy plan." (BM) "That matters not now, we will just have to do our best to cripple them now that they are in enemy territory surrounded on all sides by enemy soldiers." (MY) "Hmm, yes. I hope you understand that I will have to recall the troops that I had just sent out to reinforce the other bases." (BM) "Don''t worry about us, we will manage with what we have. The most important objective is to protect the main base where you are." (MY) "Be careful, if they are attacking me, then that surely means they are confident that they can stall you two long enough for them to do so." (BM) "I understand." The two of them immediately sprang into action by giving out orders after orders. Meng Yi gathered as much soldiers as he could and prepared to hunker down and protect the main base of operations. Baron, on the other hand, had to go back to Yue Fei and come up with a way to make sure they don''t lose. There was one main reason for Baron deciding to do this instead of going to help Meng Yi. Yue Fei only had an army of 80,000, less now that he had been doing battle for a few days. If the enemy was doing what he thought they were doing, then there would just be multiple more enemies armies coming to stall them. Since, they could not get any reinforcements as of yet, they decided to just weather the storm until the army that is targeting their main base is defeated first. All the extra personnel from each base will form up into multiple armies and go to the main bases'' aid. The only thing that confused Baron was why they had chosen to send a completely different army to take out one of their outer bases if they were just going to target the main base. Surely if they could spare these men, they could put more into the army targeting the big players. For now though, Baron left them alone and hoped that his side would come out victorious. The main priority for him was to ensure that Yue Fei didn''t get captured by the enemy. That would be a devastating way to effectively lose at least a third of their commanding power. Baron had an epiphany then and there while traveling to Yue Fei''s position. The enemy must have spent quite a number of their forces to attack them this time, perhaps even the majority of it. Baron then radio-ed one of the southernmost basesand ordered them to send a small recon unit to assess the enemies'' defenses. He also had them do it in the fastest manner they could. The southernmost base immediately sent out a 10 man unit with some of their fastest vehicles to fulfill their orders. Even with their fastest speed, Baron reckoned that they would take at least another few days to complete their assignment. He only needed to ensure that the enemy wouldn''t wipe out Yue Fei. As soon as he made it to Yue Fei''s battlefield, Baron made haste to ambush the enemies from every direction possible. Soon after, they had once again retaken the advantage and were gradually pushing the two enemy armies away. This was the case until another army only 15,000 strong cut in from another angle, the newcomers may not make a huge difference, but just the morale drop from the troops were just staggering beyond belief. Baron and Yue Fei took another few days to nearly drive the enemy away until yet another army also 15,000 strong came in from their blind side to deal a devastating blow. Things were not going well for Baron and Yue Fei, the enemy was playing them in the palm of their hands. Not only was the new enemy reinforcements equipped with better vehicles and destructive weapons than the previous armies, Baron was starting to worry that there were even more enemy soldiers nearby that would move at the drop of a hat to attack at the worst possible time. It was then that Baron received the report that he was waiting for. The assessment that he had ordered to do for the enemy bases. Just as he had expected, many of the enemy bases were near empty and most had come to stall Baron and Yue Fei. They also reported that they scouted all the way to the enemy''s main bases where it seems there was an army much bigger than it should have been stationed there. Since they were a small unit they all managed to make it out before the enemy saw them. Baron told Yue Fei at the end of the day when the fighting was put to a stop of the situation and of his plan to take a large detachment to target the enemy''s main base as well. (YF) "What about the soldiers? You can sneak out alone with a few guards, but where would you getan army?" Yue Fei asked. (BM) "I have already ordered some of the bases that is furthest away from the two battlefields to prepare an army and move to multiple outposts that are just a few kilometers outside of this battlefield. I''ll sneak out with a few guards and lead them to smash the enemy where it hurts and win the sim." Baron replied. (YF) "Seems like you had them posted there for some time now." (BM) "Indeed, if the situation was unfavorable for me to deal a sizable blow to the enemy I would have used those 100,000 to relieve our soldiers of the constant fighting that they had to endure for the past month or so." With that, Baron and a few others slipped into the night and disappeared from sight. The only one who knew was Yue Fei. 73 End of Battle There were 3 main points to which this plan of Baron''s were to succeed. The first would be that Yue Fei would be able to hold on for another week, maybe two weeks. Secondly would have to be the fact that Meng Yi would not lose and be able to repel those attackers that were attacking their main base. The last and most important factor was that the enemy''s main base was weak enough that they would fall to Baron''s army fairly fast. There was one thing that still bothered Baron though. This battlefield was supposed to be testing the 5 of theirs aerial prowess, so where were the enemy''s aircraft? Though Baron, Meng Yi, and Yue Fei had also refrained from using aircraft in this sim so far, that was only to give the pilots more time to train and become better fighters once they had to come and fight. Baron''s pilots were mostly stationed within the various bases, with about 3 in 10 being used as reserves and kept in the main base. Baron had given orders to have half of their pilots be on alert for any orders that Baron would give at a moments notice. Baron had rendezvoused with his 100,000 strong army by morning and they were making haste towards the enemy main base at breakneck pace. It would take another 2 days to reach if there were nothing to block them, but the many bases that they passed were already pretty much empty. It was likely that they were the army that had been pestering Yue Fei''s battlefield the past few days or they had retreated closer to their main base. This situation was likely to be the case up until the main high quality bases of which the enemy had only a handful of. Once Baron was only a few hours from one such base, he ordered the pilots that were on standby and had them get to the base as fast as they could and begin dropping bombs upon the base. Once that task was completed, Baron and the men on the ground would mop up what was left and quickly move onto the next one. They only had to fight through 2 such fortifications until they reached the main base. Thanks to the refueling that they managed to do while at the two felled bases they were able to move faster than the enemy had predicted and immediately began to attack the main base of their enemy. Baron was out of radio distance so he couldn''t receive any messages from either Meng Yi or Yue Fei, but he knew something was still off. Where were the enemy planes? He had seen some fight back at the main base but those were only meant to act as reserves. Now that he was suspicious about all of this, he noticed something else that he did not pick up sooner. The amount of soldiers that he had witnessed within the bases and those that went to do battle elsewhere did not add up. Baron was in a little too deep now to turn back, especially with the enemy main base right in front of him. The base that they were attacking now should have the best defense out of any he had faced before in this sim, they held out for the first few days before a messenger from Yue Fei reached Baron''s ears. (M) "Sir, bad news, in the few days you were absent we have lost over half of our bases and counting." The messenger reported. (BM) "Over half?" (M) "Correct sir, apparently the enemy had made a base within our territory that was quite well hidden and that was where the majority of their aircraft were. They launched a full scale aerial raid with the previously evenly matched army that was already targeting one of our bases." (BM) "No wonder, I was quite confused as to why the enemy had such an army attack one of our bases out of the blue. Seems like the stalemate that the two had was nothing more than a ploy to get us to focus our forces elsewhere." (M) "Indeed, after that base fell, they went on to target the next base. The string of victories in such a one sided manner beggars belief." (BM) "That can only mean that either Meng Tian or Guan Yu is with them as we have predicted earlier. No matter, is there anything else?" (M) "One more thing. A rough estimate from Yue Fei and Meng Yi suggests that the number of enemies on our territory now exceeds 600,000." (BM) "What? We should have killed or transported close to 100,000 enemy soldiers. Why would they bet so much soldiers on one battle?" Baron now has more questions than answers, but it did not matter since he only had one task that he had to achieve. That was to destroy the base that was before him, if he could manage to destroy it before the enemy could get to Meng Yi then victory is assured. Baron decided to push the men to continue fighting long into the night utilizing as many tactics as he could to quicken the pace. That base managed to hold on for close to another week, this was after all a base designed by Meng Tian, who was from a family of architects and also helped in designing the Great Wall of China. His designs were never shoddy, and always made every use of his advantages that surrounded his domain to build near impregnable defenses. Only a few minutes after the base fell to Baron''s army was there a system announcement. A voice rang out in everyone''s ears. [SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT] "The simulation has ended since one of the main bases has been felled. The winners of this simulation is Guan Yu and Meng Tian for destroying their enemy''s main base of operations." Baron and the others were quickly transported back to their HQ and Baron couldn''t help but look at the victorious grins of Guan Yu and Meng Tian in a mix of confusion, surprise, and even more confusion. 74 Surprise, Surprise The simulation that had just ended with Guan Yu and Meng Tian''s victory came as a shock to Baron. After all, he had thought that he had come out victorious, now that he was out of the sim he realized just how many mistakes he had made. However, he wanted to hear it from the victor''s mouths. (BM) "Congratulations on your win Meng Tian and Guan Yu, how did you manage to do it?" Baron went up to them to ask. (GY) "Haha, surprised Baron? We actually played a rather simple trick on you. That base that you destroyed just before the sim ended was actually not out main one. Our main base of operations was actually located a few kilometers to the west of the one you destroyed." Guan Yu told Baron. (MT) "Worry not, you only thought that was the main base because it was located in an area perfect for defense and was leagues above the others in fortifications, that was a reasonable guess." Meng Tian added. (BM) "It appears that we weren''t very used to seeing the feint upon feint tactics that you have shown." (MT) "Indeed, though it was quite difficult to set up. It was good for us since you decided to commit you as well ass Yue Fei and the number of forces you did to your first real offensive. By the time that you realized that something was off, we had already prepared enough of a trap to sap away your strength." (BM) "That was an excellent play." (GY) "The only that we were worried about was that we would put all of our aerial forces into pretty much a single base. If you had known and attacked that base, we would have very likely lost the sim." (MY) "That was a bold and risky move on your part, but it looks like it all worked out for you two." Meng Yi chimed in also quite surprise of how these two had emerged victorious. (MT) "Thanks brother, we were only just testing these new moves out and they have proved to be a usable tactic." (YF) "How about we go another round?" Yue Fei asked no one in particular. The other 4 still had many tactics that they wanted to test out so they all agreed to another sim. This was how they chose to spend another year at planet 4. By the time they came out of their year long training, they had gained much needed experience in aerial warfare. The privilege that came with being within the top 50 of elders was not to be underestimated. The millions upon million of sims that they could use as studying material would prove quite beneficial to their training speed. Since Guan Yu was the elder that was able to get access to the records hall, he had to keep up with all the other elders who either wanted that position or preventing others from getting that spot. So, Guan Yu decided to spend a bit more time securing his position while Baron and the others continued to train. This meant that Guan Yu''s training speed was a little slower than everybody else in his group, but compared to the strategists that didn''t have the privilege to use the records hall, he was still quite a bit faster. Hard work pays. During this time, Baron and Yue Fei had decided to stall their own contributions towards the community in order to practice more and more. The 5 of them decided that it was time for them to once again test their aerial prowess amongst themselves. Before it was Meng Tian, Meng Yi, Guan Yu, Yue Fei, and finally Baron. After going through a round robin of sims, they had decided on a new ranking system for them. Up at first and second was still Meng Tian and Meng Yi, but now Yue Fei was third and Guan Yu fell to rank 4, while Baron remained at the lowest rank of 5 among them. With all the training that Yue Fei had been going on and the other tasks that Guan Yu was doing, Yue Fei actually managed to surpass Guan Yu. This was not exactly much of a shock to anyone since everyone was able to see just how much Yue Fei had grown and become one heck of a competent strategist. Although expecting any big plays out of Yue Fei would be nothing more than a fantasy, he was the most consistent and well rounded player out of all of them. This meant that he could be relied upon for anything from attacking to defending to leading a small or large detachment. However, the ones among them who could achieve big plays like sneaking in to kill an enemy strategist or anything like that would have to be done by Baron, Guan Yu, or Meng Yi. They trained like this for quite a while until the tournament was only about a month away. An invitation to discuss matters with Madam Zheng had appeared and invited all 5 of them. So they finished up whatever training they had been previously occupied with and made their way to Madam Zheng''s residence to talk. On the way there, they ran into the community bulletin board that gave news of all the events that would be taking place within the Chinese Community. There was a huge crowd gathered and making a commotion. So, the five of them poked around and found out that the tournament that would be hosted by the Sun Alliance would be changing a bit as compared to previous years. Any further details would be made public within a week or so and that had many people go around spreading multiple rumors on what it could be. Baron and the others made it to Madam Zheng''s place where they were greeted by Madam Zheng herself as well as husband 1 and husband 2. (MZ) "It''s good that the 5 of you are finally here, I have some news for you all." 75 The Bad News Baron, the Meng Duo, Yue Fei, Guan Yu, Madam Zheng, and her two husbands were meeting up for a little chat just before the tournament hosted by the Sun Alliance. Baron and his group had just been informed that there was bad news coming their way. (MZ) "Baron, come with me, I need to discuss this with you personally then you can relay it to your team." Baron followed Madam Zheng into another room to see what news she had to share while the two husbands made small talk with the four members of Baron''s entourage. (BM) "What news do you mean? Has the Vesper faction made a move against you or something?" (MZ) "Oh, this piece of news doesn''t just affect us, it affects how the tournament will go down. Have you heard that the organizers were planning on announcing something to the tournament that we haven''t seen before?" (BM) "Yes, we actually just passed by someone announcing that very matter." (MZ) "Well I''m afraid this is not good news. This time around many of the elders of the Sun Alliance are planning to enter the tournament to show the Yellow Wang faction 4 co leaders their place." (BM) "Will they be flooding into all three battlefields?" (MZ) "I believe they will be going into mostly the aerial and land battles. They don''t care much for sea warfare apparently." (BM) "If that is true then that means that the chances of me and my faction mates getting a sizable prize is going to go down. Do you happen to know how many of these elders will be participating?" (MZ) "The Sun Alliance has a total of 5,000 elders or higher ranked personnel. If my estimates are correct, then they will be sending at least 1,000 to the land portion of the tournament. Compare to the 10 or so that participated 50 years ago. I have no clue as to how much would be thinking of going into the air fights but I imagine it will be less." (BM) "This is quite a pickle then, I was really hoping to get some good battle experience before the faction selection tournament that is happening in 50 years." (MZ) "Well, just know that if one of you do manage to make it into the top 1,000 in the air portion or top 10,000 in the land, then you will still be able to get some really impressive opponents. The prizes has been increased since so many of the Sun Alliance members have chosen to participate." (BM) "Thank you for this heads up, this means that we can prepare beforehand." (MZ) "Stay vigilant, every elder in the highest ranked faction member has strategic prowess that puts even Guan Yu to shame. The only reason that they don''t try for the community elders list is because they are already so busy with whatever the faction wants them to do." (BM) "Of course, is there anything else that we need to discuss?"` (MZ) "Well, this isn''t really something we need to discuss but, I want to thank you for upgrading our sea mine into a more powerful and modern one. We couldn''t make any progress since the Vesper faction has been suppressing us and the actual researchers and developers didn''t want to get caught up in that." (BM) "Of course, the best part of an alliance is that if you get stronger, then I also get stronger. That means the less amount of people are willing to try to screw me over." (MZ) "Indeed, but I will have to warn you of one other thing. If you do not manage to create a faction during the next two faction selection tournaments, then I''m afraid I can''t continue the alliance any further." (BM) "What? Why not?" (MZ) "Don''t worry it''s not like it''s anything sinister as you might imagine. For an alliance to work There needs to be at least 2 factions supporting each other. If you can''t create one within the next 2 times, then that also reflects poorly on my faction don''t you agree?" (BM) "Don''t worry, we are pretty confident in that regard. The only thing we have to overcome is the 3 aerial masters that the Vesper faction has hired to take us down. Guan Yu just reached rank 50in the elders ranking and we have been able to see a glimpse of their abilities." (MZ) "Ah that is good news, but you must always remain on your toes. Just because you have seen them perform doesn''t mean you can still best them. The scary part of this trio that you have been pitted against is the fact that they are from 3 different communities and time yet understand each other''s intentions to a tee." (BM) "We are also working on a way to remove the australian strategist from the equation. That is why Xu Da, Ban Chao, and Han Xin are not in the Chinese community at the moment." (MZ) "Removing him by getting his community involved? Interesting." (BM) "Yes, should we succeed, then the trio will be split up and therefore less effective on multiple fronts. Even is they get a replacement, getting the Australian fellow out will be costly for them." (MZ) "Yes, I''d imagine so. I believe it takes a few months to travel to that community." (BM) "I''ve never asked, but what is the geography of planet 4?" (MZ) "It is mainly just one huge land mass that has a few lakes, mountains, and valleys. Most of the communities are quite far to reach on foot. The richer people can get around by riding coaches, but most can''t afford that with how it is considered a luxury." (BM) "What about cars and such?" (MZ) "I''ve only heard of cars in rumors, but they do exist here. I believe that the Sun Alliance would be able to purchase a single one, but they never bothered to." (BM) "Only one?" Baron thought to himself before chuckling and thinking that he had to change that soon. 76 Speculation (BM) "Will you be participating in all 3 battlefields?" Baron asked Madam Zheng. (MZ) "No, me and my two husbands will only be going to represent our faction, forever pirates, in the sea battles. We will need to win that category if we want to have any chance to be one of the factions to represent China in the Death Match Tournament." Madam Zheng replied. (BM) "I see, well then good luck to you, some of us are actually going to be participating in the sea arena as well. Should we come across each other, please be gentle." (MZ) "Haha, don''t worry. The tournament is set up so as to be a sort of free for all mode, or battle royale for land sea and air. Should we see each other before the finale, we should help each other out." (BM) "We''ll see. Though we are not confident in sea battles. We wouldn''t turn down a little tussle with the pirate Queen." (MZ) "Well, just remember one thing. Try not to hide too much, your score will be deducted if you purposely hide from all of your opponents. Save for if you manage to achieve some incredible feats just before you lose. That should net you a good score." (BM) "In this world, match-ups exist. It''s all down to luck and all that jazz to be successful, I''m quite lucky that you took an interest in me the moment I stepped foot here." (MZ) "Indeed, though I think your friend Yue Fei is more to thank for that. Him constantly hanging around you has kept you from quite a bit of trouble from the regular harassers." (BM) "I am well aware of what that man has done for me. It is incredible that fate would have matched me up with one of the most loyal people in China''s history right when I got here. Had it been anyone else, I''m not sure I would be where I am today." (MZ) "I think it is time for us to meet back up with the others to discuss the actual matters that I have summoned you here for." Baron was confused since he thought that they had already discussed it. What with the whole over 1,000 Sun Alliance elders coming to participate in the tournament. However, he didn''t speak and was lead back to the others that were making small talk with each other. (MZ) "The real reason I came here was to introduce all of you to an aerial strategist that is in my debt. I bring you, Wang Yi." At this moment a very imposing looking fellow came into the room and just smiled at Baron and the 4 behind him. (BM) "Wang Yi?" Baron and his friends instantly turned hostile. (MT) "What is Wang Yi doing here?" The usually cool Meng Tian was on edge at this moment. (WY) "Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm? Oh don''t worry young one, I may be hired to take you down in the faction selection tournament, but who said we can''t have a chat before that time comes?" (MY) "Tch" Meng Yi was freaking out on the inside. (GY) "What would we have to talk to you about exactly?" (WY) "Well, it seems like you have sent a few of your friends to try and get my australian brother to leave." (BM) "So you even know about that." (WY) "Quite. However, that is not the only thing that I wish to discuss with all of you here today. No matter what grudges you five have against me here, I suggest that you bury it and listen right here right now." (YF) "We''re listening." Yue Fei said after looking around to confirm with the others. (WY) "I''m tired." (BM) "...What?" (WY) "I may be one of the elders of the Yellow Wang faction, but I have been nothing but an enforcer for the Vesper faction for the past hundred or so years. This bullying of my juniors is nothing more than that, bullying. I have a guess as to why I have always been chosen to do any aerial related stunt." (YF) "Go on." (WY) "If my guess is correct, then the Chinese community is enveloped in one huge conspiracy theory. I believe that the Vesper faction is actually a subsidiary of the Yellow Wang." The entire room went silent and everyone just stared at the serious looking Wang Yi as if to make sure he wasn''t just joking around. Wang Yi looked around at each person and nodded as if to say that he wish he was lying. (MY)) "Hold on a minute. That rumor has been made before hasn''t it? Wasn''t it disproven quite quickly?" Meng Yi looked alarmingly at Wang YI. (WY) "This just shows how inexperienced you still are at the matters of this planet. Do you think stifling a few rumors is difficult for one of the most powerful faction of this community?" (MY) "Evidently not if you are so confident." (GY) "Hold on this would actually make sense. I have done a background check of much of the inner workings of the Yellow Wang faction and they seem to have a pretty clean record for the most part. If they had another faction to do all their dirty work then that would explain how they managed to get so powerful." (WY) "That is indeed one way of looking at it." (MT) "It is very difficult to make it into the top 3 factions, even if you have no shortage of talent in your faction. Making it in would require you to either have alliance after alliance with some of the most powerful factions around, or relying on extortion to increase your influence." (MY) "While there is no doubt that the 4 co-leaders of the Yellow Wang faction are powerful, they couldn''t make it in without using at least one of those techniques, and I haven''t heard of them making any strong alliances recently, except for the merger of their 4 former factions of course." (WY) "My thoughts exactly." 77 Turn Of Events Wang Yi had just come to this meeting because he owed something to Madam Zheng. However, he had no idea that he would reveal something so controversial to the members of the Under 1 Banner members. This did not matter though, he had come for another reason, to get these people to stop trying to get his Australian brother, William Bridges, to stay. (WY) "Look, the real reason I came here was to convince you guys to not try to get William out before the tournament selection tournament." Wang Yi said slightly concerned. (BM) "Why is that?" Baron started to get on edge again." (WY) "I may be being used by Vesper, but I will still not lose a battle I have the ability to win, there is still something I am fighting for even in this god forsaken world. Plus, while I may not be on their side, I am not on yours either. My favor for you ends for you here, Madam Zheng. If you guys continue on and get William to leave, then I will definitely have to use all my that is within my power to ensure that none of your dreams will reach fruition." Wang Yi said and promptly left. (BM) "That sounds like he has an ulterior motive." (MT) "Oh who doesn''t these days?" Meng Tian said still thinking of what Wang Yi had just said. (MZ) "Well, that sure doesn''t sound like a favor to me does it?" Madam Zheng looked interestedly in the reaction of the members of the Under 1 Banner group. (BM) "On the contrary, it makes perfect sense. He sounds like a reasonable guy, so that means that whatever he is fighting for must be quite dear to him. I''m sure he has his reasons for acting in such a way." (MY) "Does that mean that we will call off whatever Han Xin and the other are doing?" Meng Yi asked Baron. (BM) "...no. I believe it is still for the better if we at least try to remove this William Bridges fellow. At the very least, their strength will decrease by 20 percent, he is after all the weakest of the trio. That slight advantage will be huge in the long run." (GY) "Indeed, no matter what he has in store that he just mentioned, I am also of the mind that not having to deal with William is the more obvious choice." Guan Yu said beside Baron. (MZ) "Well, Baron if you could relay what I told you to your comrades, I believe there is nothing further to discuss. The 5 of you should continue your training until 3 days of the tournament start date. We will meet you there, since the land portion goes first, the air warfare, and finally sea. I will also be bringing some of my more famous commanders under me." (BM) "Thank you for setting this meeting up for us, we will take your advice and train a bit more before the tournament starts." (MZ) "Farewell." Baron, Meng Tian, Meng Yi, Guan Yu, and Yue Fei all left the room and headed for a little walk to think more about their encounter with Wang Yi before deciding what to do further. (BM) "Wang Yi doesn''t seem like a bad guy, but he sure had a bitter attitude toward the end of our meeting." (YF) "Agreed. I have heard some rumors of him being a great person overall a long time ago. That was short lived since he started being crabby pretty soon after. I also heard that the only people he respects are his two brothers, Eumenes of Greece, and William Bridges of Australia." (MT) "Me and my brother have faced them before, and I gotta tell you that they are no joke, that''s for sure. I may be quite familiar with my brother but their understanding of each other seems to be on another level. I have reason to believe that they have some sort of secret that makes them so effective towards each other." (BM) "I think that is the likeliest case as well, the three of them are born from three different countries, with different cultures, mindsets, blood, societies, and they can understand each other so well? I don''t think so." (YF) "No matter, this is not something that we should be focusing on for now. The more pressing matter is the tournament hosted by the Sun Alliance in less than a month from now. Should we just keep on practicing in the sims by ourselves or what?" (MT) "No, I have already prepared something for us to do. Here is a list of most of the people who will be a threat to me in this tournament. Since I am the best out of all of us, this means that they will definitely pose a threat to all of you as well. I suggest we go back to the Hall of Records and learn more about the fighting styles of what makes all of these people so successful." (BM) "Good thinking, is this what you did last time as well, Meng Tian?" (MT) "Yes, but I wasn''t able to get through much of it before we had to get to the main objective." The five of them left for the Hall of Records and soon they were once again seated upon the seats to watch a few more simulation playbacks. They all watched as much as they could and continued to do so until they reached the 3 day mark before the tournament officially started. They left the hall of records and headed towards the Sun Alliance event halls once again. There they met up with Madam Zheng, husband 1, husband 2, and two other figures that donned the garments of the Forever Pirates. (BM) "Greetings, elder Zheng. It''s good to see you again." (MZ) "Oh stop it. Come with me, all of you. Let''s go get prepared for the tournament together." 78 Zi Bo And Zi Ji Ge Madam Zheng''s group and Baron''s group made their way to a very lavish looking room that made even the unknown duo of Madam Zheng''s faction awe in surprise. It seems to Baron that these two were not of the top brass within the Forever Pirates faction, but rather prodigies of some sort who were being nurtured. Upon further inspection, Baron determined that one was male and one was female. He went up to introduce himself. (MZ) "Baron, allow me to introduce you two to these two behind me. They are relatively new to our faction and are brother and sister. The girl that you see is Zi Ji Ge, while the other one is Zi Bo. The little sister is very outspoken and a bit condescending at times, while the bigger, older brother like to stay silent and just observe. Why don''t you introduce your group Baron?" Madam Zheng said to Baron. (BM) "Greetings, I am Baron, leader of the Under 1 Banner group. The ones behind me are Meng Tian and Meng Yi of the Meng duo, as well as two elders Yue Fei, and Guan Yu." Baron went up to the brother sister pair and introduced himself. (ZJG) "Hmph, only a group? How did you manage to get the favor of Madam Zheng if you aren''t even a full faction yet? I bet you did something to blackmail her is that right?" Zi Ji Ge basically shouted at Baron and their group. Baron''s group was not exactly pleased at the comments that Zi Ji Ge had just made, but insulting someone from another group, even if they were allies, did not bode well for Baron''s non-existent faction. Zi Ji Ge continued to look menacingly at Baron and the others while the brother Zi Bo just stared and spectating the situation that his sister had just created. (MZ) "Haha, now, now Zi Ji Ge. That is not how we treat our allies, you may have talent and I may be more inclined to accept girls, but your attitude is a factor that might decide who gets the position out of you two." Madam Zheng said quite suggestively. (ZJG) "....." Her face was now quite red showing her obvious embarrassment. (MZ) "I must apologize for her behavior Baron, she can be like that to people she hasn''t met before. While that is not usually a problem, I cannot have insubordination amongst my faction members towards my allies." (BM) "That is quite alright Madam Zheng, it is indeed true that I have not made enough merit to warrant such a big name such as yourself to ally herself with me so wholeheartedly." Baron said trying to give some face back to the lady who just badmouthed him. He snuck a peek to look at the brother and sister pair to study their reactions, but he had seen something that tipped him off of what the dynamic of the two were. From his brief inspection of the two, he was sure that although Zi Ji Ge seemed more confident than her brother, Zi Bo was the truly terrifying one. His cold and calculating eyes were just something that did not escape Baron''s observational skills. He had seen those eyes a few times before in the simulation playbacks in the hall of records. Wang Jian and Bai Qi, two of the four co leaders of the Yellow Wang faction. Those four may have the skills on par with each other, but Baron reckoned that Wang Jian and Bai Qi were the most dangerous. (MZ) "Baron, come with me." (BM) "Sure." He said and went with her to another room. (MZ) "So, what do you think of those two?" (BM) "I can''t say anything about their skills, but brother seems to be quite the¡­ how do you say, dangerous looking individual." (MZ) "So you noticed too. Indeed, these two have quite a bit of potential within them. I believe that the brother, in the long run, will be a more important strategist. These two haven''t been here long, only a few hundred years." (BM) "How did you manage to net these two?" (MZ) "They came to one of my faction recruitment events and absolutely decimated everyone there. Even almost beat a pair of my elders in the water." (BM) "Interesting, what did you mean by deciding which one was being selected for a position?" (MZ) "I have one elder spot available for one of the two to occupy. They are currently trying to impress me in this tournament. Should you meet them in the water, don''t hesitate to try your best to beat them. I need to accurately decide their value and skill in this tournament." (BM) "What happens to the one who isn''t selected to become an elder?" (MZ) "Well, at the moment, both of them fave fallacies that make it hard for me to choose which one is going to become one of my elders. You have already witnessed the girl''s, the male''s is that he is just a bit too extreme when it came his tactics as well as being overly risky to get what he wants. They have a choice to either stay in my faction and be under their sibling, or they could choose to leave and join another faction should they not be chosen." (BM) "Do they understand how the tournament works?" (MZ) "No, I was going to explain it to them just before the tournament, and give them some advice as well since this is their first time joining such a prestigious tournament." (BM) "Let''s go back, I need to talk with my friends as well." The two of them left to go to the room where all the others were to see one of Madam Zheng''s husband telling off Zi Ji Ge about not being so condescending to everyone she meets. Madam Zheng faced towards her group and asked what had happened. (H1) "She just insulted the head elder of the one faction that hates us more than the Vesper faction while out on a little walk. As if we didn''t have enough to worry about" Husband 1 replied. Madam Zheng looked at Zi Ji Ge and then to Zi Bo, and for the first time that she had known him, he frowned. 79 How The Tournament Works (MZ) "Let''s not worry about Zi Ji Ge insulting an elder from that faction for now. We will deal with this after the tournament." Madam Zheng said calmly. (BM) "What she says is correct, if they were to do anything they would have to wait until the end of the tournament." Baron reassured everyone. (H1) "Humph, you better watch your mouth from now on Zi Ji Ge, just because you are being considered for the position of one of our elders, that doesn''t mean that you can just go around and insult everyone you come across." The first husband of Madam Zheng warned her. (ZJG) "I''m sorry." Zi Ji Ge said in embarrassment. (MZ) "Now, now. We can''t undo what has already happened. Let''s just get into how the tournament works and forget about this matter for now." (YF) "Yes, let''s. I haven''t been to many of these types of high end tournaments so any advice that you may have will be greatly appreciated." Yue Fei said and smiled at Madam Zheng. (MZ) "Well, I haven''t been to a lot of these either, but I have purchased information that will be quite helpful later on in the tournament. First, let''s talk about the setup of the tournament. Meng Tian you know more about this than me, how about you start us off?" (MT) "Sure, I don''t mind. The first portion of the tournament is the air battles, followed by the land battles, and finally we have the sea simulations. These are the 3 subdivisions of the tournament, and they all have the same way of determining a winner. You could be the last army standing and yet still not be placed within the top ten of the rankings." Meng Tian started. (ZJG) "How could that be? That should be the point of war, to find out who lasts longer than their opponents." (MT) "While that may be the case in all of the other outer tournaments, we do something that is a little unorthodox. There will be a panel of judges that decides the merits of the one who will be granted with the rankings. This is due to us being one of the few communities that implement a free for all tournament instead of the usual one on one or one group on one group facing off. This is also the way that the tournament selection works except there isn''t anyone that judges who gets to become a faction." (BM) "Can you explain how they decide who is the winner of this tournament if they are judging it?" (MZ) "Well, I can explain that one. It is very unfair how they do it since they favor those who have already made a name for themselves. Even if you best a much more well known strategist then you still may be placed lower than the person you defeated in battle. Also there are the rumors that they are being bribed into giving higher ranks to those who bring them gifts and such presents." (BM) "So the Sun Alliance elders are the one to judge?" (MZ) "That is correct. I believe that if you truly want to get a high ranking while not having made a name for yourself, you have to be so outstanding in your sims that they would have to be blind if they did not give you due credits. Of course, most everyone that participates are aware of this type of conduct from the judges, but most strategists would be outraged if they were beaten by someone new and nameless. It would be a slap to their ego and they would actually take action against the judges for smearing mud on their name." (BM) "Oh, so there is still a sort of moral conduct with these strategists even if their goal is not justice. That''s an interesting dynamic between those who participate in the tournament and those who run it." (YF) "Does this mean that Wang Jian, Bai Qi, Li Mu, and Lian Po bribed their way to winning so many tournaments?" (MZ) "While that is part of the reason, those four co-leaders of the Yellow Wang faction are still a force to be reckoned with. Their grasp of tactics and warfare are incredible and not only that, few would be able to challenge them individually at least within our Chinese community. That''s the reason that they are four out of the top 20 elders, that title isn''t just for show." (BM) "I wonder, how long do you think it will take for Guan Yu to make it to the top 20 position?" (MZ) "That is a tall order for anyone. I only made it because the Chinese community desperately needed talented strategists that could blow their enemies out of the water literally. My main competitor hates me for this since he could only get to the top 40 of the elder rankings despite my obvious success." (BM) "I understand, he must be quite infuriated that he reached a bottleneck in his rankings and you come here all of a sudden and make it into the top 20 within a few hundred years." (MZ) "That is just how this cruel world works. To be honest, that jealous little pig is no match for me when it comes to sea battles, the only reason that he is still compared as my equal is because he has a much better foundation here than I do. However, with time I will be able to gradually take all the power that backs him from him and he will be utterly powerless to stop it. The ones with power will gradually gravitate towards each other and I am the clearly stronger one. Heck, even my two husbands together will prove to be a difficult match for him." (BM) "Be wary, they must be aware of the power that you are amassing and will surely strike at you when they feel threatened enough." (MZ) "Not to worry, we have already made preparations for when that inevitably occurs and we will crush them with no mercy." 80 Pre Tournament Details (MZ) "Let''s go, the registering of the tournament is about to begin and if we are to miss that, we would not be able to participate." Madam Zheng told the group. (BM) "Yes, let''s go." Baron followed her lead. (MZ) "Being in the top 20 elders rank has quite a bit of privileges that most people don''t even know about. For example, I can skip the line and directly go in with any number of aides by my side." (MT) "Are you serious? Me and my brother has been to this tournament multiple times and whenever we registered we would have to wait in line for nearly a day." Meng Tian said with a tone of surprise in his voice. (H2) "That is unfortunate indeed, it is quite a waste of a lot of people''s time. I''m not sure why they insist on doing it this way when there are more effective ways to get through this long and arduous task." The second husband of Madam Zheng said. (BM) "Perhaps they have a reason for doing it like this that we just weren''t aware of. No matter, let''s just go in and prepare for the aerial battles." Baron egged them on. (GY) "Look, Sun Tzu is a person that strives for excellence and efficiency. It is unthinkable that he would leave something as big as this tournament to the hands of elders instead of his close aids and inner circle." Guan Yu said. (MZ) "I can answer that. Regarding the rumours that Sun Tzu left with all his close aides and inner circle members is in fact true. This type of expedition is absolutely unheard of in the history of the Chinese community. I believe that he brought all of them out is to participate in one of the most difficult simulation tournaments aside from the big death match one." (H2) "Supposedly this tournament is so secretive, only Sun Tzu and his closest allies know the name of this tournament. We have not heard a peep of information of this tournament besides it existing." The ten of them continued to walk down to the registering place and in a flash got through while many onlookers looked at them with jealousy. Though they were great strategists in their own right, they had not been able to befriend an elder of such high ranking. Many of them had no motivation to become one themselves since they would be responsible for so much more than what they currently had on their plate. Baron and Madam Zheng''s group just ignored them and proceeded to make their way to their respective places. Every single one of Baron''s men were participating in the aerial portion of the tournament while none of Madam Zheng''s were. Therefore the five of them would just sit back and witness their ally''s performance and see how they managed to do against many revered masters of air warfare. Baron, Guan Yu, Yue Fei, and the Meng duo started to study the tournament rules and maps. These would be different from tournament to tournament, but there was a message to all this time around. It read that since 1,000 elders of the Sun Alliance would be participating in this tournament, the prizes would be jacked up enormously. The 5 of them were one of the first to enter the enormous waiting area and just continued to study the map that they would do battle against. Gradually, the once spacey room was filled with more and more strategists eager to prove their superiority and the noise steadily increased with each passing moment. After what seemed like hours, all of the people had been entered into the tournament and a short speech was to be delivered to the strategists that would be in the first part of the tournament. An intercom system was placed into the room and a voice rang clearly through it. (LG) "Hello everybody. I am Li Guang, one of the elders of the Sun alliance and also one of the top 20 elders within the Chinese community. Allow me to personally apologize to everyone regarding the matters of the 1,000 of my faction''s elders taking part in this tournament with you all and this is by no means a ploy devised by us to keep our treasures from you guys." Li Guang started off. "What do you mean 1,000 elders from your faction is going to be in this tournament?" Some people shouted as they had just came in and weren''t able to read about this piece of news before Li Guang began to speak. They were obviously unhappy that such a number of great strategists would be going to participate in the already difficult tournament. (LG) "Allow me to be a bit clearer in my message. Of the 1,000 strategists, less than 100 of them will be going into the aerial battlefield. However, we have readjusted the prizes from previous tournaments to reflect the difficulty of obtaining a certain rank. These 1,000 elders will all be participating in the land portion of the tournament though so that part of our contest will be the most drastically changed. The rewards will also be properly adjusted. "That''s more like it." "This is unfair." "Why are you doing this in the first place? Your people hardly ever bother with this tournament." People kept shouting question after question nonstop." (LG) "The reason that so many of our elders have joined this tournament this time around is due to our elders believing that the 4 co-leaders that have been dominating the land part of the tournament the past couple of times need to be taught a lesson. Though I am not sure how that will turn out this is the last of my messages for you. Good luck to you all." Li Guang said and the system went silent. Many people began talking and pretty soon the room was deafening to be in. Meng Tian pulled the other 4 together just before they were all entered into the tournament and gave them some advice for how all of them would be able to meet up in the simulation. 81 The Base Marke (MT) "Alright guys, the tournament will begin in a few more minutes. Since we have had quite a bit of time to study the terrain of the map, we will meet up with each other at this location." Meng Tian said as he pointed at his map. (MY) "That is a good choice, we will have approximately 1 month to prepare everything we need to before the thing starts. We will be transported to our own cities so we will need to meet up before we decide anything further." Meng Yi agreed. (BM) "Will this be a mostly aerial fight?" Baron asked. (MT) "You are allowed to build other types of weapons, but this mode allows us to build twice as much aircraft with half the supplies than regular modes. Therefore, building airplanes are more worth it." (BM) "Will we join up our armies once we meet up?" (MT) "I think that is the norm here in this tournament. It looks like this is all the time we have. We''ll meet up within the sim to discuss further, remember to make haste to the position that I pointed out to you." At this moment the room filled with a bright beam of light and everyone was transported off to the map to begin. Baron suddenly found himself in a large room with many battle hardened officers were lined up to greet him. On the table in front of him, there lay a map with numerous bases dotted all across the map with the name of the strategist on top of each of them as well as many battle lines drawn on the map. (BM) "Good morning gentlemen, I assume that you will be my officers." Baron said as he addressed the room. (LN) "Greetings general, I am lieutenant Naire, your second in command. Is there anything you wish us to do before the preparation time ends?" Lieutenant Naire asked his superior. (BM) "Yes actually, I need you to get me to this point right here, I have an appointment to take care of." Baron said as he pointed to one of the forests in the very southwest part of the map. (LN) "It shall be done, just give us a half hour and we will escort you there. Let''s go." (BM) "Thank you, I will be out in a few moments I just need to study this map for a little while." All the other officers left while Baron stayed to take a quick glance over which one of his friends were where. He also made a mental note of where the biggest names in this portion of the tournament. Soon enough, he knew all that he needed to at the moment and waltzed down to get in his prepared ride to go meet up with the others in the predetermined location. In his time looking over the map, Baron realized that he was the furthest one from the rendezvous point and once he got there he was indeed the last to arrive. (MT) "It''s good that you are here Baron, now we can all get down to business. So, one of the fundamental rules of this type of tournament is to get the best possible location to defend. Since it seems none of us lucked out in this area, it would be wisest to sell off our base and buy one where it is easiest to fight off attackers." Meng Tian said. (BM) "I suppose this time around it is more important to go for quality of bases rather than quantity?" (MY) "Correct, quantity should only be used when going up against a couple of enemies at once, but if you are surrounded on all sides it is definitely best to go for quality." Meng Yi told Baron. (BM) "How do we sell our bases then?" (MY) "We will just need to put it up for sale on the simulation interface. Just like this." He said as he swiped the air and egged Baron to do the same. From there it was pretty simple to sell his territory and base of operations. (BM) "I have not opened this tab since my very first encounter with Yue Fei, it seems like I completely forgot about it." (YF) "Well, any slightly gifted strategist would not need to use the stats given by the sim since they can gauge it themselves, but in any official tournament setting it has a multitude of other functions." Yue Fei explained. (BM) "So that''s how it is. How long will it take to sell ours?" (MT) "Going by my previous experience, it should take about a week at most for the bases to be sold/bought. Anything done after that is prone to be weak from not having enough time to upgrade the base." (MY) "I took a glance at all of our bases on my way here and I think my base is the most strategically important out of all of ours so perhaps mine will sell first, but there is no guarantee for that." (BM) "I see, so what should we do in the meantime?" (MT) "It is wise for us to mark and target which strategists will be the most difficult ones for us to defeat and try to ignore them for now. Also, we should decide which base that we ourselves want to buy. If we do manage to sell all of our territory then we will be able to purchase one of the bases near the edge of the map." (BM) "Oh I see, if it is near the edge of the map then there will be less enemies to attack us on any side and we can focus more on other stuff." (MT) "Correct, but it is pointless to go for the very edge since most of the big names will have already bribed or bullied their way to those prime spots. I say the best position that fits our needs will be here." Meng Tian said as he pointed to a fairly advantageous base to the East. 82 Let Us Begin The 5 of them spent the next few days laying down their foundations and all that all the while checking to see what the situation was with their base selling. Just half a day into the simulation, Meng Yi''s base was sold, followed by Guan Yu''s base just a few hours later. The next day only Meng Tian''s location was sold. Two days later, Baron''s base was sold. A week passed but Yue Fei''s base did not sell and so they had to decide whether they would abandon it so that they could all be together and not split up or just leave a strategist or two to stay there. In the end, through Baron''s insistence, Baron and Meng Tian would man the base for a week or two to see how that turned out. They decided to do this because just abandoning a base is just giving the advantage to the next visitor. The plan was to have Baron and Meng Tian stay at the base so that Meng Tian would be able to teach Baron the basics and if Baron was confident enough, then Meng Tian would group back together with the other 3 to team up once again. Baron had wanted to do this because he wanted to make a big splash in this tournament and get his name out to those that would soon to see him as a threat to their dominance. Soon after this decision, they had all bought a rather well fortified base that was not their first choice, but would do for now. Since the two bases were sort of in close proximity to each other, they had decided to put on a ruse and not fight their way to each other first, but rather to conquer their surroundings first and during an important fight they would show their alliance to the others. No matter what, they had to put on this act since it meant another ace up their sleeve that they could use on any unsuspecting opponents. No doubt some of their competitors were doing this too. For the remaining 3 or so weeks they did nonstop renovations for bases and strengthened their soldiers'' capabilities in war as much as they could. Preparation was key, but who''s to say that upsets didn''t happen in war. No matter how they prepared, arguably, there would always be someone who prepared more than them, better than them, made more alliances than them, had better strategies. The point being that doing the best with what they had was only thing they could do. Baron had his army and officers moved from their original base to this new one that was previously Yue Fei''s. Meng Tian and Baron agreed that it was best if Meng Tian''s army and officers would be best put into their main base since that was the more important one. What Baron was doing was just a little experiment if nothing else. (MT) "Remember Baron, for the first month or so once the fighting begin, don''t do anything. Only the foolish will rush to conquer their neighbors without scoping out what their actual strengths are beforehand. In fact, the first month is usually when the greenhorns huddle up together and try to take out some of the bigger fish right off the bat." Meng Tian explained. (BM) "That normally wouldn''t seem to end up well for the new groups." (MT) "Certainly not. The ones who have already established a name for themselves would be a joke if they lost in the first few months. That is more a disgrace to their faction and they can even be kicked out if they lost badly enough." (BM) "It truly is an unforgiving world here on planet 4." (MT) "That is true, but that is also one of the charms of this place. A world where you could be on top of the world in one moment and out in the streets in the next. This place has a certain flair that I just would never have been able to get in my previous life." (BM) "Planet 4, the planet of tragedies. Come, we still have lots to do before we begin, and still so much that you have to teach me." Meng Tian began to teach everything he knew about this one specific tournament as hecould and pretty soon Baron could get the grasp of how everything worked. Whatever Baron didn''t understand Meng Tian could easily answer. Since Meng Tian had been entered into this tournament so many times, he knew it like he knew the back of his hand. The rest of the time was spent on the aforementioned drills and manufacturing weapons that they needed to best their foes with. Lieutenant Naire was with Baron the entire time and showed to be a natural leader that also had quite a logical brain inside that brain of his. Baron grew quite fond of Naire and all that he offered to Baron in terms of quality of service. The final week before the battle start date, Baron had sent Naire to do a multitude of jobs for Baron. Naire completed each and every single one of them beautifully and with time to spare as well. Finally, the time came for the battle to begin and Baron couldn''t wait to finally prove his worth. (BM) "Naire." (LN) "Yes, general." Lieutenant Naire looked into the horizon. (BM) "Let us begin on an adventure that would put anything on Earth to shame." At the beginning, they had 100 fighter airplanes to their base. They had the resources to either get more airplanes or fortify their defenses. This is where many newcomers would make the mistake of going all in on either fortifications or fire power. The best way to go about this situation was to have a healthy combination of both. Or, if you have allies, plan it so that a few would focus on defense and the rest could go for offense. War is about finding a balance. 83 25 Left To Go Following Meng Tian''s advice, Baron did not raise his forces and instead opted to just stay in defense mode and witness how the first month would go. Just as Meng Tian had said, many of the newcomers did indeed band together to try to take out the more well established strategists. In just the first month alone, close to half the the strategists that entered into this aerial portion was knocked out of the competition. As soon as Baron was confident enough, he had Meng Tian go back to the others to increase their own fame. Meng Tian''s parting words were to beware of Eumenes, Wang Yi, and William Bridges. These three were likely to be their final opponents in the faction selection tournament that would be happening in another 50 or so years. Baron heeded the warning but knew that they would not have to worry about this until much later into the tournament. Now that Baron was running this alone, he decided that he needed to prepare a few more traps to anyone who would challenge him. He had his lieutenant Naire set up a few more ambushes near his territory and soon enough, someone fell for it hook line and sinker. With the traps working so well, Baron only had to go and mop up the mess with his fairly well trained army which took almost no effort. Even though Baron was considered to be the worst out of his 5 group team, he was still much better than the average aerial strategist. This is due to the immensely targeted training his team had gone through, the records hall, and their decently sized and capable blueprints. Baron continued to go down this path for the next 3 months and soon enough only about 300 territories remained on the map. One of the smallest was Baron, while the territory of Meng Tian and the others were quite big even compared to the elders of the Sun Alliance, almost all of which had managed to survive up to this point. There was one practice in tournaments like these that were quite common. Larger territories allowing lesser territories to pledge their allegiance to them. The smaller territories knew that if they didn''t have enough skill to continue, they would only be wiped off the map and that is why it was better to partner with a group who was already well known. Using this custom, Meng Tian and the others had conquered all the way from their original base to Baron''s, with about 50 bases standing in their way. They took all the necessary precaution to make it look like they would rather have warlords under them and had instead given this opportunity to many of those that were in their way, not just Baron. With this maneuver, their clout and prestige rose to quite a high level within the tournament participants. This was the best that the Meng duo had ever done and were enjoying the fruits of their labor. All of the remaining territories just kept going at it and after a full 8 months of this type of war, there remained just 25 groups vying for supremacy. One of which being Baron, Meng Tian, Meng Yi, Guan Yu, and Yue Fei along with close to another hundred or so strategists that had pledged their allegiance to mostly the Meng duo. It was evident to everyone present in that group that out of the 25 or so groups still remaining that they were indeed the weakest out of all the remaining parties. Even if they did stop one advance made by another group, they would be completely crushed should yet another group appear. The only thing they could do was to either pray that no one would target them, which was a very tall order. Or they could ally themselves with another group, which was easier said than done. After all, who would want to ally themselves with the weakest group? Of the 25 or so territories, 10 of them belonged to the Sun Alliance with a total of at least 60 of their elders. Should they all band together, it was likely that they would wipe the floor with pretty much every other party. However, there were two groups that was stopping them from doing that, both of which would pose a serious problem to them. One was the 4 co-leaders of the Yellow Wang faction, while the other was the trio that comprised of Wang Yi, Eumenes, and WIlliam Bridges. The latter would actually partner with the Yellow Wang faction since Wang Yi is still part of that faction. The Sun Alliance elders knew their limits, even if they were able to take out both of these groups, they would have to suffer casualties that would effectively cripple them to the point that they would have to either hope for a miracle to occur or to ally themselves with another group. However, they were far too prideful to ask others for help and pretty much unanimously agreed to watch how events would unfold. This was the mentality for the others as well and soon enough, there was a period where no one would dare to carelessly attack without considering the advantages it gave to their neighboring enemies. They were all in a sort of deadlock that could break if anyone made a move, but none dared to do so. This went on for another month which just gave everyone ample time to prepare their defenses and strengthen their air forces. The first move that was made came from a very unlikely group, a group that was perhaps even less well known Baron''s group. It was a group by the name of Bair Fighters, although this group had slightly more territory than Baron, but their way of fighting was far more different. These guys took no prisoners or allegiances from anyone. They slaughtered their way to the top whereas most of the others had done it through recruiting defeated strategist. Most of these groups contained hundreds of strategists with a distinct hierarchy, but these Bair Fighters only had 5. 84 Whos Lef The way that the alliance that concerned Baron and the other''s worked like this. The top figures would be the Meng duo, Guan Yu, and Yue Fei. Slightly below them was Baron, this was to keep any potential spies from discovering the relationship between Baron and the 4 at the top. Though Baron had been seen together with these 4 before, not people were aware of their dynamic. To ensure even higher success, there were a total of 2 others that had the authority that Baron had. These 2 were semi aerial pros, just like the Meng duo, but were far inferior in terms of tactics. They were called commander Byron and commander Hops, the two of them only respected talented people and would only listen to Meng Tian and Meng Yi''s orders while not caring about anyone else. Right now they were all discussing an incident that had happened with the dark horse of this competition. The immensely powerful and unheard of group that didn''t reveal anything of themselves, the Bair fighters. This group had broken the deadlock of no one wanting to attack and took over one of the strategically most important territory on the map. It was the bases that were at the very near edge of the western part of the map, directly opposite of where Baron and his group were located in. (CH) "This is what I am talking about guys. One of the enemies have taken the element of surprise and used that to successfully take over such an advantageous position." Commander Hops shouted, already aggravated. (CB) "I will have to agree with Hops on this one, it would have been better if we had launched an offensive on any one of our neighbors, but now they will be more alert than ever to an enemy attack." Commander Byron agreed. (GY) "You two don''t get it do you? The fact that no one made a move despite some of them being able to easily take out one or two of their neighbors is because then a different group will swoop in and take all of us out." Guan Yu lectured them. (CB) "Tch, you don''t know that." Commander Byron scoffed. (MT) "This competition is to determine who is the strongest, and anyone who has made it this far either has great skill and talent, or great amounts of luck. Most belong to the former group, and with that being the case, it is better to act with caution rather than charging blindly into enemy fire." Meng Tian said trying to get them to behave. (BM) "Let''s not fight amongst ourselves, we have gathered to discuss our next course of action. Haven''t we?" Baron reminded everyone. (CH) "Humph, who do you think you are? You are the lowest ranked amongst us here. In my opinion, you shouldn''t even be allowed to be in these meetings." (CB) "Haha." (MT) "I could say the same for you two, though you two have some skill, I value him more than I value both of you combined. At least he didn''t come to us to beg for an audience." This shut the two of them up on the spot and a smile appeared on everyone else''s faces. (MY) "Now, this meeting should really get to what we have all been wondering for the past month or so. What are the other factions up to? Well, according to our reports, the 10 or so groups of the Sun Alliance members seem to be deliberately trying to avoid each other and I believe that they do this so that once all of their competitors are gone, they would duke it out with each other to see who would emerge the victor." Meng Yi told them. (BM) "Oh my, how scandalous. Do they plan on forming an alliance to take out everyone beforehand?" (MY) "Unlikely, I''ve had a few contacts with them before, and going by that I think that they won''t ally together into a single entity because they love to compete with each other." (MT) "What about the others?" (MY) "The two groups that are part of the Yellow Wang faction don''t seem to be making any moves, it seems they are planning for something big. The mysterious Bair fighters seem to be recuperating from their losses from their most recent campaign. There''s another 2 or so groups that are likely belonging to the Vesper faction. One headed by the infamously cruel head elder, and another headed by Wu San Gui. Heh, remember him?" (BM) "Indeed I do, I don''t think I thanked him enough last time for helping me foot a quarter of bill for the Deepstrike missiles. Perhaps I should do so this time." (MY) "Anyway, the rest of the groups we are facing against seems to be a collection of random masters that entered and wound up together. Though there are still some hidden masters in here, we should still be able to last up until the top 15, I''m not certain for anything further." (MT) "Thanks for the update brother, going by our experience, all 7 of us should be able to place within the top 2,500 for accomplishments by any individual. The reward for this category is not too bad, but the rewards that everyone in this room wants is not some cash reward. It''s something from the personal treasury of the Sun Alliance, for prizes like that, we need to place within the top 1,000 for that." (BM) "Easier said than done, even if we do make it into the top 15 territories left standing, that doesn''t guarantee us anything. Just that we outlasted them, this tournament is after all, judged by a group of individuals that we don''t know the identities of." (MT) "It is indeed as you say, Baron. However, for now I believe it is best for us if we just continue to strengthen our forces, and when the time is right, we will strike our neighbors with all that we have got. I don''t expect to get much further in this tournament, let''s go out with a bang. 85 Fight For The Top part 1 The next few months were very onerous for Baron and those that united under the Meng duo, Guan Yu, and Yue Fei. Their focus on defense had caught quite a few prying eyes but in the end their efforts were ignored and a sizable force from a neighbor to the south began to lay siege to their territories. Commander Naire, and Commander Byron were sent along with some reinforcements to try and stop it. Though they were successful in repelling the attacks, they had receded some territory in this skirmish. These two definitely had skill, there''s no doubt about that, but the issue that the Meng duo noticed was that they both seemed to be in a bottleneck in terms of ability. Though their capabilities could be considered to be quite good within the Chinese community, their performance could only be considered inconsistent and far too hot headed. That being the case, they were the best two that had pledged their allegiance. Many of the other master strategists that were defeated either joined their conqueror''s service or traveled to go and try to get into a group that they knew would make it far into the tournament. This created an interesting dynamic as the strongest forces usually kept growing stronger while everyone else was left to pick up the scraps. The most obvious way to get a high ranking was to keep attacking, offensive moves are deemed to be more crucial than strictly defense. During this time of Baron''s group consolidating their power and defending their borders, there were quite a few developments from the others. First, the Bair fighters, with their measly but powerful group of 5, went onto a nonstop rampage of attacking all of their surrounding armies. This ensured that none of the groups surrounding their territory would be able to directly attack without first dealing with the offensive. This was an unexpected move from the Bair fighters because one of the groups that shared a border with them was a Sun Alliance group that had a reputation for being ruthless to no degree. The entire point of launching an offensive was to get it done as fast as possible, but the Bair fighters had decided that going into 4 long term offensives suited their interests more. Another development that did not escape the notice of everyone was that the 4 groups from the Vesper faction as well as the Yellow Wang faction started to conquer their way to each other, and once they did, partnered up so that they would become one large group that cooperated between each other on near equal terms. The last and perhaps most cunning development came in the form of Baron''s group steadily but surely losing the majority of their lands to their enemies. Anyone could guess that they were doing this for a reason, but only the true masters could guess as to what they were up to. Losing land might be signalling to the others that you were weak and therefore an easy target. However, with the way that Baron''s group was sending out reinforcements and the ratio of kills to deaths heavily favored them. This served to tell anyone with a sharp eye that they weren''t focusing on keeping their land, but rather to cause the most damage with the least amount of harm done to their own forces as much as possible. Another perk with losing some of their land is that they could more easily send out reinforcements and have their forces less split up trying to defend multiple attacking armies. This caught the attention of some, but ultimately ignored by most since it didn''t concern them. After a few more months of this tactic, Baron''s group finally decided to strike. In the span of just 2 weeks, Baron and Guan Yu in one fell swoop, took over an entire territory so fast it beggared belief. The reason for their success was because of the already weakened enemy forces as well as the magnificent strategy made by the seven of them. This alarmed the other groups of just how terrifying Baron''s group could be given the time to prepare. After this point, no one dared to underestimate their opponents any further. The group that was just conquered by Baron''s party was the easternmost territory and with that out of the way, Baron''s group had one foot in the very edge of the map. This meant that they only had 3 directions to worry about when it came to defending: North, west, and south. The days of any big developments turned into weeks, then months, and finally a piece of news that shocked every strategist came to be. This happened while Meng Yi was giving another report to the others (MY) "The first time Bair fighters that was going to war with it''s 4 neighboring groups has actually managed to take over all of them on the same day!" Meng Yi practically shouted to the others in the briefing room. (BM) "Calm down, Meng Yi. Though this piece of news is quite disturbing, we shouldn''t concern ourselves with this group just yet. They are still at the very edge of the western map while we are on the very eastern edge." Baron reassured Meng Yi. (MT) "That is true, however, we will have to start preparations for them soon. We shouldn''t just let them get close to our lands to consider them a serious opponent." Meng Tian spoke. (CB) "Why don''t we ask them for an alliance? If they are able to beat one of the group of the elders from the Sun Alliance, they must be powerful beyond anything we can imagine." Commander Byron said. (CN) "I don''t think that will work, Byron, they have mercilessly killed all who have fell to them. To do so when they could''ve recruited them must mean that they are likely very confident in their skills and will not accept any alliances." Commander Naire told Byron. (MT) "Naire is mostly correct, but I wouldn''t say they are confident in their skills just yet. I could be wrong, but I feel like this is just something different about them that I can''t put my hands on." 86 Fight For The Top part 2 The first few months of the tournaments were the most intense and battle ridden times, but once there becomes a distinct set of groups that dominates the rest, the territory naturally draws itself. Past this point is when the large scale battles will occur, though most prefer to be conservative when deploying troops. This was due to the possibility of another group coming in and taking advantage of the chaos, however, the other reason was because this was when defense was the most important factor of all. Baron''s group had began to strategically place their forces throughout their territories in order to defend from any attackers, while many others were sent to go claim land from their enemies. Their most recent conquest led to the downfall of a decently sized army as well as a couple of capable strategists that swore their allegiance. Anyone who had any potential was folded under commander Naire and commander Byron. These two, along with their new subordinates, were stationed to wage war on the territory to their north. Meng Tian and Meng Yi made this decision because they wanted to get a grasp on the skill of the two commanders as well as any noteworthy that were under them. Meanwhile, Baron and Yue Fei were stationed to go and try to take as much territory to the west of their base. Meng Yi was tasked with just keeping an eye on the lands to their south and make sure they did not make any offensive moves, and if they did, stop them to the best of his ability. The two commanders and everyone under them were by no means bade aerial strategists, but just the high level competition that they were up against was just too much for them and in no time they had taken grievous losses. A few strategists were even killed in the confusion and crossfire. Baron and Yue Fei, on the other hand, might not be taking too much losses, but they still were being stalled quite masterfully. The two of them did their best to strike deep into their targets lands, however, no matter what they did, they were still losing the important battles. Meng Tian, the mastermind behind all this, instead had Meng Yi switch with Baron and Yue Fei. As extra insurance, he himself took it upon himself to go and assist his brother Meng Yi. This meant that Baron and Yue Fei was now keeping an eye on the lands to the south while Meng Tian and Meng Yi were out trying to conquer the turf of their western neighbors. This left Guan Yu to control everything in the main base and all the responsibilities that went along with that. It did not bode well that the Meng duo, their groups most powerful, would have to personally take to the fields to win battles. Even with the Meng duo personally leading the charge, they also made slow progress against the people to their west. A week went by, two weeks, a month, and they were getting quite close to the main base of the enemy, but just when the main base was in sight, Meng Tian ordered his entire army to fall back to their own lands and gave orders to the two commanders to the north as well as to Baron and Yue Fei to the south. A day after this incident that surprised many, an army containing mostly fresh troops from the other two battlefields set out to take the rest of the territories adjacent to them. In no time flat they fell and the main strategist that had managed to give no end of trouble to Meng Tian and his group was finally captured and pledged his allegiance to his conqueror''s group. Though he was an aerial master, he could not keep on pushing the Meng duos back since he himself did not have any notable strategists under him as well as having to split his attention 5 ways. His name was Chen Di and quite a talented strategist for someone who has only been here for a few centuries. With him in their camp they became a much more powerful group, but in the grand scheme of things, they were still one of the weakest groups around. An ally as skilled as Chen Di was a great boon to them, but he was still only one extra person they could rely on, whereas their opponents had hundreds if not thousands. This was still going to be a very arduous uphill battle. Time went by and a full year since the start date of the tournament began and only 18 groups remained. The party that was considered to be on top was the Bair fighters, they had taken out over 2,000 strategists all on their own, and they only consisted of 5 strategists no less. The next 12 or so would be a mix between the elders of the Sun Alliance, the 2 Yellow Wang groups, and the 2 from the Vesper faction. Aside from Baron''s group, the rest were all backed up by some other, fairly impressive factions. Baron''s group was now considered the weakest out of all of them and were the most likely to be targeted next. Their territory was also the smallest, but this was intentional because that meant they would be able to defend better. One of their neighboring enemies was a group from the Sun Alliance, and the other was one that was from the Vesper faction. In the meeting room where they all gathered to discussed the most important matters of the state. (MY) "We have our response, it seems like the envoy that we sent to the Sun Alliance elders came back positive. We now have a temporary alliance with them so we can focus on taking down the Vesper faction led by Wu San Gui to our south and west." Meng Yi said quite happily. (BM) "This is good news, I have been wanting to see just how powerful a strategist that Wu San Gui was." Baron casually mentioned. 87 Fight For The Top part 3 The plan to conquer Wu San Gui''s group was beginning to take place. First, the territory to their north, one led by a couple of Sun Alliance elder, had approved of their temporary cease fire so that both parties could redirect their forces to other more important areas. Second, with the help of Chen Di, the Meng duo was able to come to up with a master stratagem to take care of Wu San Gui. Lastly, they had gotten permission from several parties that they had safe passage through enemy lands. The basics of the plan were that Yue Fei, and Guan Yu would each lead separate forces to pincer Wu San Gui''s main base in a very short time frame, this would give the real attacking force, Baron and Chen Di, to strike from any other position they saw fit and end the battle as fast as they could. Although in everyone''s mind, they knew that this plan was more of a guideline to victory rather than something set in stone. War was about adaptability, if a strategist was unable to adapt their plan to the ever changing situation, then they were not very apt for war. Once the preparations were all complete, Guan Yu and Yue Fei both led their forces southward towards their enemy. Guan Yu set his sights on making his way to the main base by going through and circling around the northwestern part of Wu San Gui''s territory while Yue Fei just went straight south to meet his enemies in battle. While Wu San Gui was dealing with those two, Baron and Chen Di first had their troops and vehicles go into other neighboring states'' lands then proceeded to sneak their forces in deeper into the territory led by Wu San Gui. With all the commotion that the feint was putting up, the path that Baron and Chen Di took a lot weaker than it would normally have been. What with some of the troops from this region being transferred to stop the threat in the north. They started their own rampage on the side that was the least defended and quickly overwhelmed any troops that were unlucky enough to be encountered by them. This swift action taken by Chen Di and Baron was met with futile resistance as well as an almost non existent army of reinforcements that were too busy still stalling Guan Yu and Yue Fei. A few more days pass and Guan Yu and Yue Fei''s side was actually getting pushed back by who knows what, but what mattered was that Chen Di and Baron accomplish their target, the main base destruction. These two were nearly at the base when suddenly the enemy forces came at them full force without any warning. This was clearly due to the success that they had had pushing back the others that they felt confident enough to dedicate these resources to push back Baron and Chen Di. However, their success in pushing back the other two did not translate when they were dealing with Chen Di. Even with Wu San Gui present to overlook the battle, they were hopeless to do anything to the overbearing might of Chen Di. Baron could only be an onlooker at these last few battles that he had had with Chen Di. This was because he was trying to learn as much as he could when he was with Chen Di. This person was greater in aerial prowess than even the Meng duo, why would he give up such a good opportunity to learn from a true genuine master of the aerial arts? The two of them were making good progress, but they had one disadvantage, their supply line had been managed to be cut despite their close vigilance on it. Something else to worry was that any attempts to air drop supplies were shot down before they could complete their mission most of the time. This was a true predicament. On the one hand, their supplies were getting a little low, but on the other hand they were nearly at the main base of operations of one of their obstacles. Thankfully, the Meng duo had prepared for this and had sent in another half of their overall forces to go and assist Baron and Chen Di. Meng Tian, the two commanders, and Guan Yu all left the comfort of their own territory and laid siege to Wu San Gui''s territory with no mercy. In no time flat, they had taken over the territory and was taking all the prisoners hostage when they noticed something wasn''t right. There were two groups from the Vesper faction that had made it thus far. One was just defeated, why did the other not send in reinforcements. Surely they wouldn''t leave their allies to just hang dry? Baron and his group gave no chance to the strategists of this group and immediately had all of them executed. This might only be a simulation where no actual strategists suffer, but this act made it all the clearer of what Baron''s group was planning by showing their fearlessness of the Vesper faction. Baron had noted that earlier these two groups had used a significant amount of resources so that the two of them could share borders with each other. This meant that they were planning on working together, yet where were they now? The answer came in the form of a rather surprising result from all the way in the western frontier. It was the Bair fighters again. This time they had set fire to two more groups that neighboured them. One of them was the other Vesper faction group that had made it thus far, while the other was another group of the Sun Alliance elders. The surprising thing about this piece of news wasn''t that the Bair fighters had once again taken down two fairly powerful groups. It was that, once again, they had done so in a way that both empires would fall on the same day. The news spread like wildfire within whoever was still within the tournament. 88 Fight For The Top part 4 The Bair fighters had been the center of attention for quite some time now. This group of 5 who always executed their prisoners and did not leave any sort of room for their enemies to counterattack was a mystery to everyone else in the tournament. Who was this unheard of group that managed to defeat not one but 2 of the Sun Alliance elder groups as well as numerous other well known groups like the Vesper group headed by their head elder. The appearance of this group was quite surprising as it was almost certainly going to be a victory for the Sun Alliance elder had they not shown up. The Bair fighters now had the most territory out of all the parties still in the tournament and this fact did not escape the notice anyone. What regular strategists did not know about the two fallen Sun Alliance groups was that they were considered upper tier even for them. This meant that the Bair fighters were even more fearsome than the outsiders of the Sun Alliance could ever imagine. This gave no end of fear to the remaining Sun Alliance groups. In fact, soon after said event, the remaining 6 Sun Alliance member groups, as well as Wang Yi, Eumenes, and William Bridges from the Yellow Wang faction also joined in on the coalition to get rid of the Bair fighters before they managed to get any more land and resources. This congregation of 7 mighty factions was something that had never been seen before in such a grand fashion. The 7 of them kept this plan a secret and worked together to plan and make the preparations to see this through to the end. The rest of the groups were just throwing small and mid sized battles at each other not really planning anything big. Bair fighters, on the other hand, were in a state of defense as they reorganized their armies to prepare for another offensive. Being the one with the most land, they had the most resources, and the biggest force to match. The alliance between the 7 groups consisted mostly of meeting other non member parties to allow them to move their forces through enemy land unimpeded and safely. Planning this attack was no easy task as there were many aerial strategists that were present that all had their own thoughts on how they should proceed and such. Once all that mess got sorted out, they only had to Finally, the time came for the coalition to launch their all out attack on the Bair fighters came and that''s what they did. 7 offensives all launched on the same day from 7 of the best in the tournament all going all out. 7 different battlefields, 7 different directions, 7 powerful forces all doing all in their ability to wipe out the Bair fighters right then and there. The campaign went on in the favor for the coalition for a full month until the unexpected happened. Evidently the reason that the Bair fighters were on the back foot this whole time was because they sent nearly half of their forces to the coalition''s territory and managed to fully take over 3 other lands all within days of each other. This revelation signalled something for the coalition, if it took them a full month to encroach only halfway into the Bair fighters territory when they were at half strength, how were they going to win if the could be flanked any second by a force equal or greater than their own? They couldn''t was the answer. However, they had committed so much resources and firepower into this one large offensive how could they just up and leave without holding a meeting with the other leaders. They rushed to meet each other and soon they had made a decision to disband and go back to their own lands. Except, those who lost their lands had to be absorbed into other groups. One of those groups were Wang Yi and the other two, they had to be folded into the group that was headed by the 4 co-leaders of the Yellow Wang faction. The other 2 groups that had lost their lands could go into any one of their 4 remaining Sun Alliance faction groups. This was another upset that had not been expected. Who could guess that a coalition made out of 6 or 7 of the top 10 factions in this tournament be unable to stop the Bair fighters. This news reached all the way to Baron''s gang and they were in the middle of discussing this matter. (BM) "This is rather... scary. How could they be so powerful and yet unheard of? Could they be visitors from another community?" Baron asked the Meng duo. (MT) "I''m not certain, but their performance indicates that they are the most likely to win this tournament. It is possible that they are outsiders since their tactics seem to be a tad more crude yet orchestrated. Though, I''m not too sure about that either." Meng Tian said. (MY) "I believe that they are from our community, there is elements of Chinese style aerial warfare, but they seem to have incorporated from other styles that seem to be similar to William Bridges from what I have seen from the record playback hall." Meng Yi added. (BM) Hmm, what worries me is that they are so bold in sending half of their forces away when they knew a mighty coalition was going to strike at them yet chose to do so anyway. Are they mad or are they that much of a tactician that they could do this kind of thing already knowing the results before they even happen." (MT) "With how this first coalition turned out, it is unlikely that another will form up. It looks like the most important thing for us to do now is just to see how this plays out. We were lucky to have survived this far, I''m unsure of what to do now. On the one hand, it is my belief that the Sun Alliance will just keep expanding until they conquer everybody." 89 Nothing But Toys In A Sandbox The amount of controversy that the Bair fighters had generated was insane. This mysterious dark horse had managed to not only be on par with the greatest within the tournament but also perhaps even more skilled. This was the time that they did something that no one expected, they had a monstrous amount of momentum from just pushing away 7 other groups, but they decided to take this time to be idle. From a strategic standpoint, momentum was crucial for victory, but these guys were squandering this precious resource like it meant nothing to them. In the meantime, the Bair fighters sent an envoy to each and every single remaining group''s leader was invited to meet one of the 5 strategists. Baron''s group was one of the first to be met by one of these representatives. (BG) "I am from the Bair fighters, my name is Shi Lang." Biao Gong introduced himself. (BM) "Welcome, elder. Please come in, we welcome your visit." Baron said and led him to the war room where the others were waiting for him. (BL) "Greetings one and all, the great lord Biao Gong has graced you with his presence, hahaha. All jokes aside, you all must be surprised as to why I came here unarmed and all that." (MT) "That sure is an understatement, it''s not everyday that an enemy general shows up at your doorstep wanting an audience." Meng Tian replied. (MY) "So what is your business in coming here?" Meng Yi asked getting to the point. (BG) "So you two must be the ones in charge of this region, the Meng duo I presume? Anyway, reason that I have come here is to offer not only your group but also every other group a treaty of non violence." Biao Gong said with a smile. (BM) "I don''t want to sound rude, but why would the Bair fighters need a pact of non aggression?" (BG) "Heh, you young''uns sure are green. This pact isn''t for our sake, it''s for yours. Any party unwilling to have the pact with us will be immediately wiped off the map and have their land conquered by us. I''m sure that you have already witnessed our overwhelming strength in the aerial field. Would you like to face a group that was able to push back 7 groups that are each individually stronger than you guys with only half of their forces?" (BM) "That''s a fair point, but can you explain how this will benefit you guys?" (BG) "Sure, I may come off as condescending in this monologue so forgive me, or don''t I don''t care. To the 5 of us within the Bair fighters, everyone else in this tournament has pitiful skills in the aerial battlefields. So, we like to show off our strength right from the get go and play with anyone who has at least a decent amount of skill." (MT) "Decent?" (BG) "Hah, get as frustrated as you want, that will not help your situation. Decide now whether you want to be the toys in our little sandbox or whether you want to be wiped off the map. The choice is yours, but I should warn you that if you do agree to our deal, we will send some of our troops to anyone we like." (MT) "Enough, we accept. This is a no brainer for anyone wanting to make a name for themselves and get rewards in the end. We accept." Meng Tian said heartbrokenly. (BG) "Excellent, I will take one of you with me and be on my way. You boy, the one who welcomed me in. I want you to accompany me to all my other visits to the other kingdoms that have managed to make it this far. You should know that failure to do as I say can also result in the destruction of your pitiful little group here." (BM) "I understand, if there is nothing else then we should get going, elder." The two left the room to get onto their next destination. (MT) "Who does he think he is? Coming in here and basically taking one of us hostage. The nerve of this guy is off the charts." (MY) "Calm down brother, though we may have lost face, think of what the others have to deal with. They have made more of a name for themselves than we have and they will be forced to do the same thing." Meng Yi said trying to console his brother. The others just stayed silent still processing what was happening. Baron and Biao Gong left and headed for the group of Sun Alliance elders to the north of their territory. Biao Gong mentioned the same spiel to them and indeed they had to swallow their face and accept the treaty as well as giving up one of their core members. This went on for a week or so and in this time, not a single weapon was fired nor a single soldier killed. This was because the Bair fighters had basically ushered in a universal truce through words, albeit temporarily. There were 4 Bair fighters members that went around to do this task to take a hostage and instigate a truce treaty between them and every other party still within the tournament. After every territory had been gone through, all the people chosen by the Bair fighters were congregated at the main base of operations for the Bair fighters. It was so secret that everyone who wasn''t part of the Bair fighters had a bag over their heads and transported to the base. There were about a dozen or so hostages that had been taken and they were all gathered in an arena of sorts with multiple tables set up mimicking multiple different scenarios. This was clearly a sort of competition that they had been forced into to show which one of them had skill. A group of 5 walked in front of them and they introduced themselves. "Hello everybody. We are the Bair fighters." 90 Bair Fighters Plan The announcement continued to ring throughout the room where all the gathered strategists from the other groups were by what seemed to be from the leader of the Bair fighters. (BL) "All of you don''t need to know us on a first name basis, though you may know the name of the person who brought you here, I myself will never give my name to the likes of you. Just refer to me as Bair''s leader. Behind me are B2, B3, B4, and B5 they are ranked from the most skilled to the least skilled." Bair''s leader said to everyone. Baron noticed something that had struck him as odd, every one of the Bair fighters were wearing a mask, but the ones that they had on were all different. He had noticed it on Biao Gong when he went to ask for the pact of non aggression, but it seems like this was a recurring theme for them. One other thing was that Bair''s leader had revealed that Biao Gong was the least skilled out of all the Bair fighters. (BL) "Anyway, the reason why we have gathered you all here is due to us not being challenged enough with the lack of talent in this tournament so we will be doing a few experiments with all of you. Don''t worry, it''s nothing humiliating, you will be here to witness just how powerful we are though table top strategies." At this point, everyone except their leader made their way to the group they had gathered and picked up whoever interested them. In Biao Gong''s group was Baron, William Bridges, and one more fellow by the name of commander Lyon. This was an interesting dynamic since William Bridges was the person that Baron''s group was trying to actively kick out of the Chinese community. Both of them knew this fact. (BG) "Well, let''s get going shall we? You are lucky that I have chosen the 3 of you since I am the most generous out of all the others." Biao Gong said tooting his own horn. (BM) "Thank you elder, might I ask why you have chosen us in particular?" Baron asked. (BG) "Yes, well. I''m sure you know how I was introduced as being one of the weakest out of the Bair fighters, right? I picked you and William over there as well as Lyon who no one wanted. Hahaha." He said with no remorse. (CL) "What! Why does no one want me? I can understand it if I was compared to William, but who is this noobie that hasn''t made a name for himself yet?" Lyon was close to exploding. (BG) "Calm down boy, these two are more skilled than you can even imagine. You may be slightly better than William now, but you should know that these two are much younger than you are yet have much more prospects in their future. You have peaked, and once that has happened the only place you can go is down." (WB) "Thank you elder." (BG) "Come with me, let us talk before we have to do my assigned task." The 3 of them followed Biao Gong into a grand room where there was a table in the center. They took a seat and curiosity got the best of him and William Bridges just had to ask a question. (WB) "How did you guys manage to repel the 7 alliance coalition sent to crush you? I was in there yet I did not see anything that could be considered special!" (BM) "I was wondering that as well. That stunt you Bair fighters pulled off was quite impressive." (BG) "Surprised are you? Well, I don''t blame you. Let me tell you something that will send a shock to the deepest core of your being. We may be a group of 5, but you should know that the only moves that we have done in this tournament is done by our leader. Me and the other 3 were just fooling around somewhere else when the coalition pounced upon our land." (BM) "What? Then doesn''t that mean that everything the Bair fighters have accomplished in this tournament has been done by one person?" (BG) "You got it right. Don''t get me wrong, the 4 under him are superior than even some of the best in this community, but we aren''t really needed since no one here is even worth a piss to our leader." (CL) "Im-impossible, someone of that calibre is unheard of in this community. Who even is he? Is he a foreigner or is he Chinese?" (BG) "Spoiler. I can''t tell you that." (BM) "How about we change the subject, why have you gathered so many strategists here?" (BG) "It is for you to spread the word of how powerful we are once this entire tournament is over. Remember what I said to you when I first visited your territory? That everyone here was nothing more than toys for us to fool around with? Well, now that we have made a nonaggression pact with everyone, we will do just that. Toy with everyone to our fullest content." (BM) "How will you do that?" (BG) "We will give up half of our forces to egg on those of you who are deemed the weakest and make them go to war with someone that is superior in every way to them. Don''t you just love a good underdog story? Hahaha." (BM) "So that''s how it is. No wonder." (BG) "Consider yourselves lucky, Baron. Your group is the weakest out of everyone remaining. That means you guys get the most reinforcements. Though, just because you guys get more reinforcements, victory is still not guaranteed. The end result is still up to you to figure out." (BM) "Do you guys enjoy this type of entertainment?" (BG) "It''s not entertainment that we are after, it''s something else." (BM) "What do you plan on doing after only one group is left to oppose you?" (BG) "Ah, ah, ah, no spoilers." He said laughing wickedly to himself. 91 GPS? This came as a surprise to everyone involved, for one this mysterious group went about like they owned the place. The only thing more aggravating about their actions is their skills to bend everyone to their will. (BG) "Hahaha, I bet the lot of you guys are very frustrated with how much we underestimate you yet still come out on top. Well, whatever. It''s not like any of you can oppose us anyway. For now the lot of you can talk amongst yourselves while I take care of some businesses." Biao Gong said and left. There was much silence in the room until William Bridges, the aussie, asked Baron what he had planned. (WB) "So, Baron. I hear you have sent a couple of your people to mess with me. I''ll have you know that that is unlikely to happen. No matter what kind of mess you start up, it won''t be enough for you to win the faction selection tournament." (BM) "Humph, we''ll see about that. Make sure that you don''t underestimate us too much." (CL) "Your quarreling is quite hilarious. Your small scale faction disputes are nothing compared to what the big factions have from time to time." (WB)"Watch it Lyon. I''m backed by the Yellow Wang faction, you are nothing compared to us." (CL)"Hehe, I may not belong to the most prestigious faction, but I have been in quite a number of faction on faction disputes. I even consider myself of sorts with how much I''ve seen over the years." (BM) "Yeah? What do you think about the Forever Pirates and the Vesper faction scuffle?" (CL)"Heh, oh them? It doesn''t even take a genius to figure out that the Forever Pirates are way outclassed at this moment. They have it lucky." (BM)"What do you mean by lucky?" (CL)"I mean that if the Vesper faction solely focused on that one faction, they would be wiped off the map fairly effortlessly. They would need to make quite a few strong alliances should they wish to even begin to be on an even playing field with the Vesper''s." (BM)"How strong of an alliance?" (CL) "Well, given that now another powerful force is beginning to pester them, I would say something along the lines of getting any faction that is higher ranked than the Vesper''s. Not an easy task." During this time they continued to talk albeit begrudgingly and with a stinker whenever they got the chance. After some time, Biao Gong came back and told them of the situation on the outside. (BG) "So, I have made the preparations and soon enough, reinforcements have already been sent to each of your territories for an experiment. The ensuing show will be an interesting war indeed, hahaha." (CL)"How many reinforcements have been sent to us?" (BG) "For your group, Lyon, you will be sent 1,000 aircraft and 2,000 men. Since your group is already quite powerful, William, you will only be granted 250 aircraft and 500 men. Now Baron, your group is essentially the weakest and we have sent your people the greatest amount of reinforcements, about 5,000 aircraft and close to 10,000 men." (BM) "Wow, that''s essentially half of our army." (BG) "Careful what you reveal to your enemies, Baron. You never know how that might backfire on you. Though we already have a pretty good grasp of the manpower that each party currently has." (BM) "So let me ask you, where have you been all this time? You would have been considered among the best, but you haven''t really shown yourselves until this moment." (BG) "We already have made a name for ourselves here, though we have been traveling to the other communities as of late. The reason we came back was to prepare for the Death Match tournament that would be going down in another few hundred or so years. Now come, let''s go to the command center and see just how the map is playing out." They all got up and went to the command center to see what was going on. All the others were gathered here too, and they were all looking at a massive screen in front of them. (WB) "Where did you guys get that type of technology? I have never seen anything so complex and advanced, and I have gotten around too. Just who are you guys?" Biao Gong said nothing and headed to the others beckoning them to follow. He started up a conversation with the other masked individuals and soon enough Baron got curious and looked at the giant screen in front of them. This was a pretty standard developed country setup that was prevalent when Baron died, yet it''s features were beyond anything that he could counter right now. He continued to look around all the different screens and was shocked by nearly everything that he could see before him, a digital map of the entire region around them, multiple layers of radar technologies, radio technology that was common in a standard military army on Earth. That wasn''t even half of it there were also cameras of ballistic missile launch sites, an uncountable number of aircraft sites, army camps that were just hiding out in the middle of territories even to the furthest territories from them. It was at this point that Baron realized that these people in front of him considered their troops as pawns and wouldn''t care if a few of them were found out since their army was large enough that they could send out so many reinforcements and not fear any surprise enemy attacks should any one of their pact members go rouge. He continued to look around and then the cherry on top of all of this was that they had GPS capabilities. This was something that was far beyond what they had at the moment. (BM) "GPS? How have you guys managed to get technology for GPS?" The masked individuals became silent from shock and stared at Baron then Biao Gong, he then sighed and went up to Baron and told Baron to follow him. 92 The Final 4 Baron followed Biao Gong to a separate room while being all the more confused as to what this was all for. (BG) "Tell me Baron, in what year did you die on Earth?" Biao Gong asked sternly. (BM) "About 2020. Why do you ask?" Baron was unsure of what this had to do with anything. (BG) "Only 2020? That means you are quite knowledgeable on what the current events are on the outside." (BM) "I suppose you could say that." (BG) "Tell me, what is the most advanced system that you have seen." (BM) "Well, if you mean by weapons, I assure you that the GPS is still of vital importance. However, if you mean by pure destructive power, then that would be a nuclear bomb that is capable of wiping out hundreds of thousands in no time at all." (BG) "That would be quite impressive if it weren''t so terrifying." (BM) "Indeed, it seems that from your era to mine, war persists no matter who is in charge and what time period it is in. It seems like war will never disappear, just more destructive. Now, what did you bring me here for, surely it isn''t due to this casual talk?" (BG) "No, this is about another matter. Here." He said as he handed Baron a sheet of paper with a weird almost nordic symbol on it. "What''s this?" (BG) "It''s a symbol that you should carve into your brain. This group is far more powerful than us. We are just a subsidiary group that''s not even anywhere near their level of influence. This is an invitation. Another group will tell you all about us. For now, you may go back to your group. We have use for you yet." He said and left the room only for a couple of guards to enter and escort Baron back to Meng Tian and the others. ------------------------- Back at the territory where the Meng duo and the others had started to expand their territory into neighboring lands. (MT) "Wow, we have made quite a bit of progress since we received the reinforcements haven''t we?" Meng Tian said into the radio that was connected to all the other high ranking officers that were under him and his brother, Meng Yi. (MY) "Calm down now brother, though we may have received the most reinforcements out of anyone here, we should still stay vigilant and think our plans through." Meng Yi said right next to him. (CN) "This is insane, these troops and aircraft that we have received are so well trained and way more advanced than I have ever seen. These guys must be powerful as heck to have the resources necessary to buy something as amazing as this." Commander Naire complimented. (CB) "What Naire says is correct. These must be some insane people if they are able to send so many of their forces away and not have to worry about anything at all." Byron said in admiration. (GY) "No matter how impressive they are they are still our enemies don''t forget that. Complimenting an enemy is alright, but don''t do it too much, it lowers the morale of our men even further." Guan Yu pitched in. (YF) "Indeed, though we are making great leaps into conquering our enemies, don''t forget that should the Bair fighters choose to, they could send just as many of their forces to any other faction around and that would be disastrous for us." Yue Fei mentioned. (MT) "Ah don''t worry about it, for now we should just focus on doing our best to use the advantage that we have, who knows when the Bair fighters will end up recalling their soldiers. I''m in a great mood right now due to all the help that they have given us." (MY) "I haven''t seen you so happy in such a long time brother, but you need to be¡­ Baron? Since when did you get back from the Bair fighters?" He said as he saw Baron walk into the room. (BM) "Oh just now. Guess what I brought with me? Another few thousand in reinforcements." Baron said with a big smile on his face. (MT) "That is excellent news indeed. Let''s get right to work!" The situation for the next few months remained in a sort of stalemate between all the different territories, then one territory fell, and another, and another. After a few months more of warfare between the different lands, there emerged three that would prove to be on almost equal footing. The Sun Alliance elders, or what''s left of them, had joined together in hopes of outlasting the others. The Yellow Wang faction was able to recruit and absorb two more parties to their cause and were another group that had quite a lot of power in there. Finally, Baron''s group would last to this final 3 type of situation and although their forces were the best out of these 3 groups, they were still considered the weakest due to them having the least experienced strategists. Who could forget that the Bair fighters were still there? Even though they had been inactive for the majority of the last year or so, they still had the largest land mass to their name, they still had the deadliest force on this map, and most of all, they still had many of the hostages that they had taken previous to sending their reinforcements to the other territories. It was common knowledge that it was this group that was likeliest out of all that would win this tournament, but the 3 remaining factions were still doing all in their power to duke it out for second place. In fact, this sort of motivated them even more. This was because they could say afterwards that they were the last to face the infamous and overly powerful mysterious Bair fighters. Right now, the group ran by the 4 Yellow Wang faction co-leaders were in a mutual alliance with the Sun Alliance elders. Their goal was to wipe Baron''s group off the map and out of the tournament before the Bair fighters decided to send them any reinforcements. They had gotten wind of Baron''s post release situation and that no one else had been released. 93 First Impressions Now that there are only 4 groups left, the territory should be pretty easily defined. The northernmost part of the map was the territory of the Yellow Wang group, and the combined forces of the Sun Alliance elders were mostly to the center. Baron''s group occupied the lands to the east and the Bair fighters had the most land taking a huge chunk from the western, and southern parts of the map. Since the Bair fighters didn''t seem to have any intention of doing anything else providing any other sort of aid to the three remaining teams, nor did they seem to want to fight the Yellow Wang and Sun Alliance group had decided to put aside their differences and put their resources into taking out Baron''s group first. This piece of news had long reached the Meng duo then they spread it out to the rest of their teammates. Since this was the case they had to devise a way to repel this sort of attack or drag it on long enough that the others felt no use in continuing. This was an extremely dire situation as they only had a little over a week to prepare before the attack. During this time they had made the majority of their bases start producing multiple Deepstrikes, MANPADS, and a bunch of anti aircraft vehicles. Soon enough, the forces of these two powers were upon them. There were multiple attacks from both of them to the north and western parts of their lands. There would be 4 separate forces that would pierce into their lands. One group was led by Li Mu, another by Bai Qi, another by an unknown group of elders from the Sun Alliance, and the last group was led by Wang Yi and Eumenes of Greece. The Meng duo spared absolutely none of their forces into their defenses, even going so far as to recall 80% of their forces from other bases not directly under the path of the original 4. Every last resource was put into this defense, that means that all noteworthy generals in their camp would be called upon to face the might of these four armies that had an unimaginable amount of experience under them. After much discussion, the choices had been made as to who would lead detachments to stall the four armies. The Meng duo could deduce that the forces led by Li Mu and Bai Qi would be the true offensives and that they would need the most amount of resources to deal with. This meant that the most strategists, manpower, and firepower would have to go to deal with these two armies. That being said, the best strategist at their disposal was Chen Di, he would be sent along with Guan Yu and a few others to deal with perhaps the most bloodthirsty out of all their opponents, the human butcher Bai Qi. The most troublesome out of all their opponents would have to be the army led by Li Mu of the Yellow Wang faction. To counterattack this offensive, the Meng duo would be sent to intercept them. As for Wang Yi and Eumenes, Baron and Yue Fei would have to stall them as long as they could with only half the number of forces that Wang Yi had. This could be a determinant of just how dire the situation had become. Lastly, commander Naire, and commander Byron would be sent to the last battlefield to stall the group of elders from the Sun Alliance. The situation wasn''t completely against them however, they did have a few advantages as well. For one, they had the home field advantage, which means that the weapon systems that they had installed in every single one of their bases would be of use if they were within 25 kilometers of the base. Second, they still had quite a few troops that were sent by the Bair fighters, even though they might not number much, they were still crack troops that could be relied upon to complete their tasks. Thirdly, though this was not exactly an advantage, all the spectators that would be watching this tournament would all have their eyes on these 4 battlefields. If any one of them lost too badly, this could end up to be a career suicide, so they could only do their best to make the best judgements in order to have a future. This put everyone on their best behaviour and made them think rationally before they commit to anything. Truth be told, there were more than 4 armies piercing into their lands, however, none of the people leading those much smaller armies were much of a threat to the overall stratagem, but the Meng duo did decide to put a few armies in between their paths in hopes of stalling them. No matter what, this situation was do or die. If they lost, they would not get the greatest prizes, nor would they get the fame associated with a semi big tournament such as this. If anything, this point motivated everyone in Baron''s group to do their utmost to keep their kingdom going. After all, if they were to come back next time, they definitely would not be able to match the results and luck that they had right now. It was rare enough that such a strong group such as the Bair fighters would send their crack troops to aid anybody that they wished to, much less expecting this sort of behaviour a second or third time. This went doubly for Baron''s group of 5, this was their debut fight, so to say. First impressions were important, and if they are able to repel the infamous Yellow Wang faction away, even if not at full strength, signalled that they were more than skilled. This was it, if everything went according to plan and they manage to push back these 4 armies they would have some sort of fame attached to their name, even if they were the next group to be eliminated. 94 Not Worth The Trade This battle was a very important one for every party involved. The Yellow Wang and Sun Alliance elders had spent quite a few of their resources into this joint campaign. Baron''s group was very likely to wiped off the map if they could not manage to repel the 4 armies led by Wang Yi, Li Mu, Bai Qi and the Sun elders. The Meng duo had devised a plan to use nearly everything in their power to repel this attack. For the first week or so, the armies sent to intercept the attacking armies were on par with each other, but that was where the even playing field ended. Baron''s few defending forces had nowhere near the amount of experience that their opponents had. Who could blame them? Few of these strategists have a specialization in aerial warfare, but their experience in other departments made them a difficult opponent to deal with, not to mention all the money that they had inevitably spent on acquiring blueprints that few others could match. Slowly but surely, every single one of the attacking forces managed to get ever so closer to the main base. This was to be expected after all, none of them dared to underestimate the monsters that they had been pitted against. So, that''s where they switched up the plan. Instead of Chen Di, their best strategist, doing battle with Li Mu, he would instead be pitted up against the few elders of the Sun Alliance along with Meng Tian, and Yue Fei. In their absence, there would be a couple of other strategists to take their place and they were instructed that to take the least amount of losses was their goal. Even though these reinforcements may not be on the same level as their teammates, they weren''t so completely incompetent as to fall into any major traps, and so they were able to stall the enemy while not having to worry about winning. Now that three of their best was aiming for one of the main offensives, that army had been able to be miraculously crippled with the surprise leadership of Chen Di and Meng Tian. This was because the previous strategists that they had gone up against were pretty good, but nowhere near as skillful as these two. This was more or less part of their plan, have the enemy strategists believe that they had been granted easy foes, but in time reinforcements of their most skilled strategists would swoop in and masterfully trick the opponent into thinking they had won. This battle was considered to have been an extremely lucky one for Baron''s group, after all, now that they had exposed one of their ace moves, the other armies would be ever so careful that they would not fall for this same tactic. Unfortunately, Bai Qi had already guessed as to what their plans were when he realized that the amount of opposition that he faced was noticeably weaker. He took a huge chunk of his army and made his way to one of the neighboring battles, the one where Meng Yi was left to deal with Li Mu. The human butcher used his small detachment to surprise attack the head hq where Meng Yi was and managed to capture him and a few of the other strategists. On their way back to their battlefields, Meng Tian, Chen Di, and Yue Fei was told of what had happened to Meng Yi. (MT) "What? Meng Yi has been captured by Bai Qi you say?" Meng Tian was looking like a feral beast at this point. (YF) "You should calm down first, Meng Tian. What has happened has already happened, though if I am to be perfectly honest, I don''t think we can count on Meng Yi''s help for the remainder of this tournament. You know how his moniker is the human butcher, he is a rotten being to the very core. It is unlikely that Bai Qi would let an enemy general live after he is captured." Yue Fei said with a sigh. (MT) "Indeed, though we have effectively routed one of the enemy''s offensives, we have lost one of our best strategists in the trade, not worth the trade. Though this gives me an idea, if we managed to capture one of their important generals, we might be able to trade them in for my brother." Meng Tian said. (YF) "That is all well and good, but who should we target? I don''t think this plan is realistic." (CH) "No wait, this might work if the person is important enough. I can think of only one candidate that we can use this tactic on. Wang Yi." Chen DI said. (MT) "Wang Yi? This is not a great idea, you don''t know this but us and him have a neutral relationship as of right now, but if we were to do anything like humiliate him, he would bring down no mercy upon us when the faction selection tournament is underway. He is our main foe for that tournament and we would prefer it if he doesn''t have a reason to hate us even more." (CD) "Is that so? Well then I don''t think there is anyone else that would fit the description. Eumenes of Greece is important, but not enough so that the Yellow Wang group would be willing to trade in one of our best. It is unlikely that we will be able to capture either Li Mu or Bai Qi since we can''t beat them head on. I suppose the best way to go about this is to just give up on¡­" Chen Di said just as he was interrupted by Baron''s radio call. (BM) "Have you guys heard of Meng Yi''s predicament?" Baron asked. (MT) "Yes, we are trying to think of a way that we can save him. Have you got an idea? Or did you call because you have made some headway into defeating Wang Yi''s army." (BM) "I have an idea on how to go about this matter, but it''s by far one heck of a risky plan. This involves the Bair fighters, and whole lot of luck." 95 An Unsuccessful Trade After Baron pitched his plan to Meng Tian, Yue Fei, and Chen Di, he immediately went to work. Just before he had been released by the Bair fighters, Biao Gong had actually given him a special radio that could be used to communicate between the two of them. Now, Baron planned on using it to ask for a favour. (BM) "Hey, elder Biao Gong. Are you there?" Baron asked with respect in his voice. (BG) "What do you want Baron?" He answered rather uninterested. (BM) "Well, I sort of have a favour to ask of you. Have you heard that the Yellow Wang faction and the Sun Alliance have sent quite a few of their heavy hitters to knock us down a few pegs?" (BG) "Hah, of course we do.We have the GPS after all, and even if we didn''t, there are still many ways of finding that kind of obvious stuff out." (BM) "Yes, well. I was wondering if you still had all those strategists that you had taken from all the various groups." (BG) "Yes we do actually." (BM) "Well, the favour I wanted to ask of you was to see if you could send a few of them to us." (BG) "What will you be doing with them? It''s is highly unlikely that they will just follow a, no offense, weak group like yours." (BM) "Ah I understand that point fairly well. However, I don''t plan on using any of them to fight any wars or anything like that, no, no, no. I plan on using them to trade back for one of our strategists." (BG) "Hold on." He said followed by a long pause. "Alright, I just got permission from my superior to do what you have asked of us." (BM) "Really? Aren''t you going to ask for something in return?" Baron was taken slightly aback. (BG) "Haha, no need. We are quite curious as to how this strategist trade will play out. Though I must say that you will be on the losing side no matter if the trade goes through or not. Not only will you let your foes get back a powerful piece of the playing board, but also the time that it takes to do this is not small." (BM) "Not to worry. You just send all the Sun Alliance elders as well as William Bridges, and I will deal with the rest." (BG) "All of them? You sure do know that trading all of them for just one of your own is not the best way to go about this right?" (BM) "Not to worry, I already know what to do if this doesn''t play out like I hope it will." Baron said with a stern attitude. Biao Gong arranged everything and within half a week, 5 powerful strategists were delivered to Baron. Meanwhile, Baron had called for a temporary ceasefire with the few armies that had encroached on his land. The reason for the temporary truce, as he told Li Mu, Bai Qi, and Wang Yi was that he had wanted to trade William Bridges and one of the Sun Alliance elder''s best in exchange for Meng Yi. Such an offer was clearly rejected at first, but after seeing that Baron did indeed have William, as well as one of the elders from the Sun Alliance, they were ready to listen. All of the separate armies were gathered up in one place where the transfer of prisoners would go down. This would be between Baron and Bai Qi, the one who kidnapped Meng Yi in the first place. They met up each with several hundred elite bodyguards behind them. They stopped when they were both about 20 feet from each other, with all the others standing behind these two men and their personal armies. By Bai Qi''s side was Li Mu, both of them were co-leaders of the third most powerful faction in the Chinese community, the Yellow Wang faction. There was also a Sun Alliance elder with them. On the other side was Baron accompanied by Meng Tian, Meng Yi''s older brother. Both sides pushed a few tied up strategists in front of them. (BM) "Alright Bai Qi, hand over Meng Yi and the others first, then we will hand over William Bridges as well as the elder from the Sun Alliance." Baron shouted out. (BQ) "Humph, you''ve got quite the spunk kid. To think you had the gall to actually get the Bair fighters to hand over some hostages to you. You boy, are getting quite cocky if you think you can always get what you want. All''s fair in love and war, isn''t that what they say?" Bai Qi said as he nudged Meng Yi and the others to make their way to Baron. He had a cruel and sinister smile on his face as he watched them slowly make their way to Baron. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers and multiple gunshots were heard from Bai Qi''s side. Meng YI and the others dropped like flies, they were dead. (LM) "Bai Qi, you fool, what have you done? We had a deal with not only this kid, but also to the elders of the Sun Alliance." Li Mu said with urgency in his eyes. He looked at the Sun elder that was beside him. (SE) "What the hell was that for Bai Qi? You better have a good reason for breaking our deal." THe Sun elder practically shouted at Bai Qi. (BQ) "Screw the deal, I didn''t like it anyway. Don''t worry I doubt they can do anything to retaliate. If they did to us what we did to them, then they will effectively make both of our factions their enemies." Bai Qi said with a smug smile on his face. (MT) "Meng Yi!" Meng Tian said as he saw his brother die in front of him. He was near the point of being hysterical. (BM) "Not to worry, I suspected as much. Guards! Bring me the other 3." Baron ordered. "Yes sir," A guard said. Three more prisoners were brought out in full view of everyone. (BM) "Tell my commando squad leaders to cut each one of our prisoners 1,000 times while not dealing so much damage that they die. Then load a bullet into their skull after the cuts." "You got it boss," 96 Calm Before The Storm Everyone was shocked at what Baron had made his men do. Meng Tian was shocked beyond belief, Yue Fei was taken aback, Guan Yu could not help but to look away. Bai Qi, Sun elder, and Li Mu just looked on absolute disbelief, they had rarely ever been in a situation where they had no idea what they were going to do. Gasps of horror filled the plain where over a hundred thousand soldiers stood looking at the sight of 5 prominent strategists be cut multiple times. (BM) "What''s wrong Bai Qi, are you speechless? And here I thought they called you the human butcher, all''s fair in love and war, isn''t that what you said just now?." Baron said with a blank face, clearly he didn''t want to resort to such cruel tactics to prove a point. (BQ) "You...you''re mad." Bai Qi said while still shocked at what he was looking at, but that only lasted for a split second as he returned back to his harsh nature. "You have made an enemy out of 2 of the 3 most powerful factions here in the Chinese community, and for what? To prove a point? Your career here is basically finished here kid." (BM) "Oh, I don''t think so, Bai Qi, you should know that while I may not have sufficient influence to take the likes of you on, I''m quite charismatic in the way that I can get the general populace on my side. Your faction is indeed powerful, but that is only because these ordinary people allow you to be. If they were riled up into one cohesive force, then I''m fairly confident that not even the Sun Alliance will be able to survive." (LM) "Enough of this tomfoolery. Junior Baron! What Bai Qi has done is wrong, I will admit that much, but that does not give you the right to do the same. I demand you release them this instant. Though this is a sim, this is a tournament after all, the screams that come out of their mouths are real." Li Mu said in a rather dark tone. (BM) "Oh, but Li Mu senior, as someone from a respected faction, you shouldn''t beg your opponent for anything should you? That''s quite a loss of face on your part." (LM) "You...you¡­" (BQ) "Humph, watch your language boy. Allow me to tell you something about this world that we have been sent to. Your people that I just killed, were of no importance. The 5 in your care however, is. So if you continue what you are doing right now, you will have made multiple powerful foes. You wouldn''t want something like that now would you?" (BM) "Heh, save it. You should have thought of that before you killed my friends. I think this conversation is over." "Sir, 1,000 cuts to the enemy has been dealt. We await your signal for the final blow." (BM) "Ah, excellent timing, let''s go everyone, you too Meng Tian." Baron said and turned around to walk away followed by his elite guard. With a snap of his fingers, 5 well known strategists fell to Baron''s soldiers. ---------- Both sides decided to keep the truce for the time being and resume all conflicts the following day. Guan yu, Yue Fei, Meng Tian, and Baron were having a secret meeting. (MT) "Baron." Meng Tian said with tears still fresh on his eyes. (BM) "Yea?" (MT) "Did you expect this result?" (BM) "Well no, I had really expected Li Mu to be the one to deliver your brother to us. Turns out that that assumption was wrong." (MT) "But, there was a distinct possibility in your mind that it would go down like this?" (BM) "Yes¡­" Baron started but he was instantly on the floor gasping for air. Meng TIan had given him a mean punch to the stomach. (MT) "Don''t you EVER use me or my brother as one of your chess pieces ever again." Meng Tian said and stomped away. Silence ensued. (YF) "You know Baron, I hope what you did today is a one time thing. Personally, what you did could be considered admirable of sorts, but going down this path will surely lead you to become someone on Bai Qi''s level, perhaps even lower." Yue Fei advised Baron. (GY) "Yue Fei and Meng Tian both have a point Baron, what you did today was impressive, but you did go a little overboard. You must consider it from the perspective of those that you had executed today. They were killed bysomeone many times their junior, even if they lost to vastly superior strategists originally. This puts them in a very awkward position, in fact the amount of face that they have lost is by no means a small amount." Guan Yu lectured. (BM) "Not to worry, the both of you, I have thought everything through the moment I came up with the idea of trading prisoners of war. Though I didn''t want to resort to torturing those 5, we couldn''t let them get away with killing our comrade could we? If we had instead kept them, wouldn''t they just find a way to escape? There is a 99% chance that they would never accept superiors as weak as us." (GY) "That may be true but we could have had other uses for them." (BM) "I didn''t want to take the chance that they were listening on to us and would somehow manage to get a message to their comrades as soon as we had our backs turned to them." (YF) "Alright, but you need to promise me that you will never do anything that twisted ever again." (BM) "Do promises even have any bearing in the afterlife? Whatever, sure I promise that I won''t unless I have a very good reason to like I had today." (GY) "Enough of this, it''s time we met back up with Meng Tian. We still need to strategize for tomorrow''s battles. This will now be extremely difficult to survive now that some of the best will be coming for us with all of their ability. 97 The Beginning Of The End Baron, and Yue Fei met up with Meng TIan and the others to start their strategic planning. They all had foul moods, they all realized that with everything that had happened previously, things were not going to be easy from here on out. (BM) "Meng Tian, let me say before we begin that given what the enemy had done, making a statement that stuck with them was the best course of action." Baron explained. (MT) "Forget about it Baron, I had an inkling of an idea of what would happen. I was just in denial of the whole thing after my brother was killed. What you did was indeed the best way to go, I just wasn''t thinking properly at the time it happened. Though his death and the others are a great loss on our part, the show must go on." Meng Tian told everyone. (CD) "Then what should we do? The reinforcements that were sent by the Bair fighters have halved with all the fighting that we put them through. Even if we still have a much larger army of these highly trained soldiers than our army, they have just recently started to surpass us in terms of personnel as well." Chen Di said with a worried face. (MT) "We can only do what we can with what we have. For now, we will focus on bringing down either Li Mu or Bai Qi, those two are the cornerstone for their previous attack, and seeing as how effective they were I doubt that they would be willing to change it." (CD) "Will I be sent to one of them?" (MT) "Yes, I''ve thought long and hard about how we are going to be doing this and I have come to the realization that no matter what we do we will not be able to win this war. However, that doesn''t mean that we won''t be able to bring one of them down with us. What do you guys think? Li Mu or Bai Qi? Let''s put it to a vote." They voted and with an overwhelming favour of targeting Bai Qi was discovered. The main reason for this was due to the blatant disrespect that he had shown to them by promising a prisoner trade and then killing the prisoners. This was not only a huge loss of face for everyone on Baron''s side, it made them look like children stumbling about in the adult world. (MT) "With that decided, I declare that me, Baron, Guan Yu, commander Naire, and Byron will all be going in to deal a decisive blow to end Bai Qi and we''ll see how that goes. Chen Di, you will go battle with Li Mu, similarly, Yue Fei will do battle with Wang Yi and Eumenes. You especially have to be careful since we did kill their brother in front of them, Yue Fei." (YF) "Understood, but isn''t this setup a little¡­" (MT) "Too much strategists on one battlefield? That''s the point. Yue Fei, and Chen Di, both of you need to hold out for as long as possible. That will give us time to potentially bring down Bai QI. If there are no more questions, then this concludes our meeting, good luck everyone and I hope to see you all alive and well in a few days." Meng Tian said and immediately left the room to go prepare for the battle that would soon ensue. They all left the room one by one after wishing everyone else good luck and proceeded to go get ready as well. As much as they knew how disadvantaged they were, they were all happy beyond belief. All the wars and fighting that they had been in before was nothing compared to the high stakes that they were in right now. Truely, war was invigorating for them all, something that never fails to impress. The next day, they all got into their respective armies and left to face all the scary odds that they were all up against. Meng Tian''s group was the first to leave, but first Meng Tian, the leader of this entire group, gave a speech to all the soldiers that were fighting for them. The mood from the commanding officers had been picked up by the regular soldiers and Meng Tian felt that this was the appropriate measure to take to ensure some morale when going into battle. This was truly the endgame now, there was little to no backup forces left in the inner regions, every single resource available to them were used. Cumulatively, the soldiers that they had mounted up was close to 40,000 along with over 10,000 military aircraft and a bunch of other weapons that were produced via blueprints. No matter what, if they don''t manage to push their invaders back, or if the enemy snuck a force behind them to siege their main base, they would have lost the war and be returned back to the tournament viewing grounds within one of the Sun Alliance buildings. Where Madam Zheng, and the vanquished Meng Yi were waiting for them. Baron, Yue Fei, Guan Yu, and Meng Tian were all mentally preparing themselves for the battle that they would be partaking in in a couple of hours. Meng Tian was the one that was concentrating the most in this aspect, he would do anything for his brother, the way that his brother fell was very disgraceful. He was entering a state in which he thought of nothing but how to somehow defeat the powerhouse known as Bai Qi. Even though Chen Di was indeed the best aerial strategist over everyone else in his team, Meng Tian sent him off to Li Mu in order for Li Mu to be able to be stalled, even if for only a little while. After some time, Meng Tian''s army got into sight of their opposing army and the war started. Now was the time for action, nothing else would get in the way of Meng Tian''s revenge. 98 The Time Has Come Meng Tian did indeed have a plan in order to get revenge for his brother who died in a way only worms should, eating dirt. He knew that he, Baron, Guan Yu, and the two commanders would not be able to defeat Bai Qi. Even with their slight numerical advantage, proving just how highly Meng Tian thought of the powerhouse Bai Qi. However, that didn''t mean that there was no way to beat him and the answer lied with the age old question, quality or quantity? No doubt quality would be the way to go in most circumstances, but if quantity was large enough, quality would eventually fall to the endless hordes. Thinking of it another way, 100 of the greatest martial artists that ever lived would not be able to fight off a horde of a million enemies. Though they may be the best of the best, numbers will trump quality eventually. The battles that ensued were fierce, with one side battling desperately to restore their dignity, and the other side taking it slowly. A day passes, then a week. It was indeed as Meng Tian had predicted, taking Bai Qi out was not going to be an easy task to accomplish. On day 3, commander Naire made a grievous error in judgement and had gotten himself in a trap that he had no chance of escaping from. Bai Qi''s side knew it, Naire knew it, Baron''s side knew it, and those soldiers who were in the mess knew it as well. Even so, with what little men he had, Naire did everything in his power to ensure that the enemy forces were ground down as much as he was able to. Even though he and his men were eventually worn down, they had made a lasting last stand against Bai Qi''s men. Such was the fate of the strategists who led the vanguard. After his death though, the rest on Baron''s side were reluctant to lead in the front and had resigned to focus on mainly strategizing in safety, after all if they were to lose any more strategists, they would be unlikely to take Bai Qi down. Nothing big or eventful happened after Naire''s death and so they just resorted to using attrition style warfare. This type of warfare was used when both sides had an army that was big enough for the other side to not want an all out war. So instead both sides would grind down each others numbers in an attempt to get the upper hand. In which case they would strike with all their might to deal the final blow. The number of soldiers that accompanied Meng Tian and Baron were a little over what Vai Qi had brought with him. However, after a week of attrition warfare, they numbered only about 3 quarters of what Bai Qi had left. They were losing on the numbers side. With a bit if strategizing, Meng Tian''s side put out great effort to lower their enemy''s number by doing daily night raids. They had multiple strike teams that numbered less than one hundred to go in guns blazing and there goal was to each take down either 2 men or a military aircraft then retreat into the night. For the first two nights, this worked well, bit Baron knew that by the third night Bai Qi would have cracked the intent behind their purpose and set up ample defenses that would stop the small strike forces. Thus, Baron had decided that on the third night they were going to attack not in the dead of night, but rather just before dawn. The night attacks ceased after the success of the third night since there were extreme risks in doing it a fourth time against someone as acute as Bai Qi. With the brave sacrifices of these men, they actually managed to lessen the gap between the number of soldiers in each army to about the same, give or take a thousand. The time had come for the ace up their sleeves, they had only one goal they wanted to achieve in this tournament, and that was to get recognized. They had surprised everybody by making it this far while being a completely new group, but their achievements thus far have been greatly overshadowed by the Bair fighters. There is only one thing that they can hope to achieve if they wish to be remembered. Take down Bai Qi. If they forgot about anything else and focused only on taking down Bai Qi, they could leave having achieved their most important goal. On the 10th night of the battle for their lands, Meng Tian gave all the other battlefield commanders the order to go ahead with operation Rattlesnake. There would be two parts of this operation to ensure the highest success rate possible. The first being the rattle part of operation rattlesnake. Each of the other major battlefields will use a distraction to confuse their respective opponents and stall them for as much as possible. Then the snake part of the operation was for every single remaining soldier not dedicated to the feint be relocated to Meng Tian''s battlefield. WIth this overabundance of reinforcements that number 3 times what Bai Qi had in his army at the moment, victory was nearly guaranteed. Most of the other battlefields opted to go with the traditional route of distraction, and that was to launch a night raid right after it got dark to put the enemy in a state of panic and invite chaos. This part required quite a few soldiers in order to cause enough disorder to stall them so nearly a tenth of their forces were used for this maneuver. Right after this began, the army and the weaponry and aircraft were all moved to Bai Qi''s battlefield to do battle in the middle of the night. In a room within Baron''s camp, Meng Tian was looking out the window to look at the stars all by himself. (MT) "Wait just a little while longer, dear brother. The time has come for us to send this world a message." Meng Tian said while holding up a cup of wine and held it up to the stars then proceeded to down it in one go. 99 Death Of A Behemoth The only people not on Baron''s side who knew of this was the Bair fighters, they knew everything that was going on in this tournament. The final battle for Baron''s group was underway, they had to take down Bai Qi no matter the cost. The reinforcements had been instructed by their commanding officers to not expend too much effort during the day prior to their forced march to another battlefield. All the reinforcements arrived within half a day''s time and they got to work immediately. Laying siege to Bai Qi''s camp in four directions. They had to do this task as fast as they could. The main reason being that there was no doubt that the enemies that they had left behind would have surely realized what had happened and would be making their way to Bai Qi''s camp. If not, Bai Qi would have to be fool to not send an sos out to his comrades who were nearby. Since this was still the dead of night, Bai Qi was unable to estimate the amount of soldiers that had been laying siege to his camp. Even for the most experienced of strategists, getting a feel of the battlefield was difficult to do in the darkness, that''s why attacking at night was risky for both the attackers and the defenders. It was hard not only to determine the amount of attackers but also to guess wrong would prove fatal to the survival of an army. Bai Qi was a very headstrong fellow, and would never ask for help from his teammates. That was why even after he realized that the number of people attacking him contained at least the entire army of Meng Tian''s force he still decided to take on this challenge on his own. He was no fool either, he had been in a number of night raids so he knew how the generals were thinking when they decided on this risky plan. Going by the amount of people and weaponry that they brought with them, these invaders had wanted to finish before any of Bai Qi could get his forces back in working order. One of the four pillars of the Yellow Wang faction would fall for such a simple minded trick. He had a command chain that was nearly impossible to break and soon enough, he had all his soldiers once again under his control and thus the battlefield. Bai Qi took everything onto his arms and guided his massively disadvantaged soldiers to where they would be the most useful. Back on Baron''s side, the 4 main armies and the few others that followed along spent all their time and every man and gun available to them to throw at Bai Qi''s camp. They weren''t doing this all willy nilly though. Their plan was to continuously wear down their enemies until they were no longer able to resist, then they would send in the rest of the reinforcements from the Bair fighters, the most skilled soldiers under them at the moment. The fighting continued until dawn and Bai Qi''s men were actually managing to push back all the forces sent in to take them down. Truly this Bai Qi was no ordinary foe to deal with. However, with the fatigue setting in, they would not be able to keep this up forever. The fighting lasted until midday and still the soldiers of Bai Qi was managing to hold on. This was a mix of adrenaline and Bai Qi''s excellent counterattacks. Their limit was approaching and everyone knew it. By this point nearly all the aircraft on both sides were wiped out and it became mostly a ground based attack on both sides. Baron and his men had received news that Li Mu and Wang Yi had finally realized what had happened and had rallied all the forces around them to go and rescue Bai Qi. However, they took their time because they truly believed that there was no way that Bai QI would actually be defeated by Baron''s group even if they had a numerical advantage. In response to this their strongest soldiers were sent in to deal the final blow to the already dead army that was Bai Qi''s. They had one day left to kill Bai Qi before his reinforcements came. In the next few hours an upset was to be had. The seemingly on the back leg Bai Qi had actually sent away assassins in the dead of night to deal with the strategists that had put him in such a dire situation. Almost all of Baron''s faction mates were killed in a simultaneous ambush and only Baron, Meng Tian, and Yue Fei was able to make it out alive. These assassins were by no means any ordinary assassins. They were strategists that specialized in killing strategists like Baron. Luckily, Baron, and Meng Tian was with Yue Fei at the time and Yue Fei spent close to no effort in dealing with the intruders, this could not be said of the others. Enraged that they were careless, Meng Tian sent the rest of his forces in to finish off Bai Qi. Eventually, just as Bai Qi''s reinforcements were in sight of the battlefield, Bai Qi was brought to Meng Tian tied up and bowing before the 3 of them. (MT) "Looks like this is it Bai Qi, any last words?" Meng Tian asked the once proud Bai Qi. (BQ) "Hah, like hell I do. You guys were just lucky that I underestimated your reinforcements. Going by my estimates, I took out nearly three quarters of your overall army isn''t that right? You guys are finished. You might as well just release me now since you will have no chance of keeping me in your care." Bai Qi said with a high head. (MT) "Release you? That''s where you guessed wrong Bai Qi. We don''t care about the tournament. We only want you. You killed my brother and Guan Yu, did you really think we care about this tournament this much? Oh no, we''re going to be killing you. EVERYBODY! Please step back 100 meters" WIth this order, all the soldiers retreated and now only Meng Tian was left by Bai Qi''s side. Meng Tian put on a blindfold on Bai Qi and the look on Bai Qi''s was one of pure denial. With Bai Qi blindfolded, Meng Tian grabbed 3 grenades, unpinned them and tossed it around Bai Qi. Then he turned around and left with an explosion roaring right behind him. (MT) "Did you see what I did? Meng Yi." He smiled. 100 The Winners Of The Aerial Derby Bai Qi was finally brought down, but the costs associated with this achievement was massive. Even going by a conservative estimate, Baron''s group had lost even more than what they had originally guessed. Nearly 80% of their soldiers were killed during this endeavor and their air force was pretty much non existent at this point. The worst thing about this situation was that there were another two armies with the same amount of soldiers and resources as the one they just finished off. Had they reserved some of their forces in such a situation like this they might have still been able to continue to fight on for just a little while longer. However, the truth of the matter was that there were only three notable strategists under their banner at the moment, close to no more soldiers to count on, and if they did try to salvage the situation it would lead to nothing more than ceding a huge portion of their land to their enemies in order to continue on fighting for scraps. Their chances for making it any further into this tournament would be nothing short of a miracle. Heck, even making it this far was something that most people could only dream of. So, Yue Fei, Meng Tian, and Baron made a unanimous decision to just end their tournament run at this point. It was agreed that trying to push further into this tournament was no longer in their best interests and that it would be better if they ended the aerial portion of the tournament on a high note with Bai Qi''s death. The three of them went to the simulation system to announce their decision and soon enough they were transported out of the sim and into the area where the strategists went once they had finished their run of the tournament. Sort of like a end result screen waiting area. There were quite a few people in this large hall and the very first person to take notice of them were Bai Qi and his posse of his most trusted retainers. He scoffed at them and signalled for his group to leave. Only Baron had taken notice of Bai Qi''s strange behaviour but he paid no attention to it. Out in the distance a voice rang out. (MY) "Brother!" Meng Yi shouted out loud. (MT) "Ah, there he is, let''s go." Meng Tian said and the rest followed him to where his brother as well as Guan Yu was. (MY) "Guys, I can''t believe you managed to take out Bai Qi. That was amazing, there have been no shortage of rumours going on after you guys finished the deed. Hehe." (BM) "No doubt, it is pretty unprecedented for a new group such as us to appear on the scene and be skillful enough to upset the normal flow of events that usually occurs. Although, I suppose the Bair fighters are beating us on that front." Baron said. (YF) "That was an exhilarating experience, I never thought that this type of tournament would be able to get me so hyped up to such a degree." Yue Fei said with a big smile on his face. (BM) "I had suspected this would be the case, there are multiple big names in attendance after all. However, the excitement, the thought of risking everything to win, all of it was something next level. You guys just do what you have to do, I need to go ask Madam Zheng a few questions." (MT) "Sure, just make sure that you get back here before the award ceremony begins. We made it pretty far into this tournament and I would not want you to miss out on something as big as something precious from the Sun Alliance treasury." (BM) "You got it." Baron said then turned around to head to the private room that Madam Zheng was currently residing in. The others just decided to witness how the end of the tournament would go down. The tournament simulations were a bit more special than the average sim. For one, making a huge tournament like this was possible, and the other thing that makes it stand out from the regular sims was that the sim time to planet 4 time was 30:1. This meant that for the most part, a month inside the tournament was pretty much equivalent to a day on planet 4. The regular sims were about 4 times as slow at 7:1 or a week inside the sim being 1 day on planet 4. Inside the simulation, a bunch of new events were unfolding. With the disappearance of Baron''s group, there was now only 3 groups left to vie for the title of the winner of the aerial portion of the tournament. The Bair fighters were still not making a move, so the Yellow Wang group and the Sun Alliance elders started an all out war with each other. This sort of conflict was long overdue, both sides wanted to prove their strategic acuity and with the Bair fighters being inactive they thought it was the best possible time to find out which side had the edge. Thus, a nearly year long conflict between the two groups erupted and there were no shortage of epic battles, major upsets, and a whole lot of showing off on both sides part. However, the 3 remaining co-leaders of the Yellow Wang faction as well as Wang Yi, and Eumenes of Greece got the upper hand and ended up being able to oust the elders of the Sun Alliance. Now there were only 2 groups left in the ring. Yellow Wang and the Bair fighters. It was then that leader of the Bair fighters finally came out and made his intentions made clear. He announced to the members of the Chinese community that they did not enter into this tournament to win prizes, but rather to get their name known. They released everyone that they had collected, minus the ones that Baron took then proceeded to kill them to make a statement. He mentioned that the Bair Fighters would also be participating in the land portion of the tournament. Then the 5 of them forfeited making the Yellow Wang faction the winners. 101 A Clue About Jordsand Baron made his way to Madam Zheng''s private room where they were spectating the aerial portion of the tournament. At this point, they had been watching for several weeks since that was how long it took time on planet 4 to aire the broadcast. By the time that Baron had reached them, the tournament had been at the point where the Sun Alliance and the Yellow Wang faction were having an all out war with each other. Baron had no idea of the situation since he was making his way to mz. (BM)"Madam Zheng, tell me, have you ever heard of Biao Gong being active in the chinese community?" Baron asked. (MZ)"I''ve got no clue, I don''t think I''ve ever heard of this fellow." mz replied. (BM)"It''s odd, he should''ve died at about the same time as the 4 co-leaders of the Yellow Wang faction. However, he seems to be on a whole other level compared to them. The only reason I can think of for this to be possible is that it is connected to something along the lines of this." Baron said and handed a piece of paper that he had traced from memory that Biao Gong had handed to him back in the tournament. (MZ)"This is, an interesting piece of symbol that you have here. Did this Biao Gong say anything about it when he handed it to you?" (BM)"Only that I would need to be vigilant for the time when they decide to contact me." (MZ)"Well, though I shouldn''t tell this to any outsiders of the top (MZ) 0 elders, this symbol only matches one group in my mind. The symbol of a very secret, very elite, very powerful faction within the Jordsand community." (BM)"Jordsand? The community that has won the Death Match Tournament consecutively in the last (MZ) 0 or so times?" (MZ)"That would be the one yes. If they have shown themselves to you then it can only mean that their invasion has begun. I don''t say this lightly, but that group gives me more than my fair share of nightmares. They have infiltrated the top ranks of many of the other communities, and now it seems like they have finally begun with us." (BM)"How are they allowed to do this?" (MZ)"Heh, well, this is the underworld. There aren''t exactly rules down here is there? Except those made up by each community i suppose. Junior Informant!" (JI) "Yes ma''am. What can I do for you?" A person standing idly by responded. (MZ)"Ask around our faction as well as all of our allies about Biao Gong. Someone has to know something about him." (JI) "Your wish is my command." He said as he left to go carry out her wishes. (MZ)"I don''t know too much about this group as well. There are only snippets of information that they pass down to me. If you wish to get more information about the dealings with this group then you would have to either get Sun Tzu or Wu Qi to tell you about it." (BM)"It''s so top secret that only the great elders know about it? This is some serious stuff then. There is something else that i would like to ask you." (MZ)"Go for it." (BM)"I had forgotten this fact until now, but isn''t there a reward for winning the death match tournament?" (MZ)"Yes, I believe so." (BM)"So who gets to decide this reward? Or does everyone on the winning side get to choose?" (MZ)"Well, don''t get your hopes up. Only the Jordsand community has won in the past few thousand years. However, I have been told that the one who contributed the most to the victory would get to decide the wish. That or everyone in the winning side chooses who gets to make a reality bending wish." (BM)"Interesting, do you know what the winners of the last few tournaments have wished for?" (MZ)"You certainly are asking the right questions aren''t you? However, I have no clue, I have also asked about this before but it doesn''t seem like the Jordsand players have made their wish public. To us outsiders, it is impossible for us to guess. No matter how you look at it, it seems like them wishing for better weapons, and better strategies might be the most likely explanation." (BM)"I wonder¡­" (MZ)"Well, how about we continue watching the broadcast? I believe it is almost over by this point." Baron, somewhat satisfied by the answers that he had been given, decided that he would watch a bit before he went back for the award ceremony. He turned his attention to the screen and saw a familiar face on the screen. It was Li Guang, one of Li Xin''s descendants and one of the rising stars of the Sun Alliance. They were narrating the tournament like a commentator. (LG) "Looks like the all out war between two out of the three remaining groups has finally come to an end. That did not as long as some of the other conflicts during the tournament but that''s that folks. Hmm? What''s this? The Bair fighters have finally decided to make their move?" Li Guang said. This was the point where the Bair fighters made their announcement that they would forfeit the tournament making the Yellow Wang faction the winners. Then, they would sit and observe the naval portion of the tournament, and finally dedicate their all into fully winning the most important part of the tournament, the land battles. Baron left at this point so that he could make it in time for the award ceremony. (LG) "It seems that the Bair fighters have no use for the rewards that lay within the Sun Alliance''s treasury. This must mean that this new group must have some really powerful allies if not even we can interest them. These people are really not as transparent as they were first introduced as. Who knows? They might even be able to win the land portion of this tournament as well. Now wouldn''t that be a sight to see? Hahaha." 102 Announcing The Winners Baron just made it back before the rest of the tournament and met up with his faction members. Though he had missed the majority of the last few weeks of the simulation, he had understood what had happened and the thoughts behind why the Bair fighters were so easily willing to give up first place even when they were almost guaranteed to win. They were so powerful that they had no use for whatever the Sun Alliance had in their treasuries. Baron and the others were just about to reach other when an announcement was made by none other than Li Guang, the rising star of the Sun Alliance. (LG) "My, my, my, what a surprising turn of events this tournament has taken. The award ceremony will be held in a later date, but I will reveal the winners of each category here, as decided by the jury within the Sun Alliance. Let''s begin, so can I get a drumroll please?" Li Guang shouted to hype everyone up. The room that more than a 10,000 people were gathered in suddenly erupted in cheers and shouts of excitement, every other noise was drowned out and the sound was deafening. (LG) "So, the obvious winners for this one is of course going to be the Yellow Wang faction, since they are technically the last group standing. Well done to them! The second place for the aerial portion belongs to our very own Sun Alliance elders of which more than a hundred competed in this time around. Excellent job as well. Now, I''m sure some of you were wondering why we have not included the Bair fighters in the two most prestigious awards within this category and I assure you that we indeed wanted to, however, they refused to receive any kind of award no matter how much we tried to convince them. They did put on quite an impeccable show for us after all." The room then filled with over a thousand voices all discussing this matter in an instant and with a word from Li Guang they hushed up just as fast. (LG) "Hush now, we must finish this up before the next event can begin. With what I said earlier in mind, the winners of the greatest upset award will have to go the group that was led by the Meng duo. More specifically Meng Tian for his incredible achievements in managing to capture one of the 4 leaders of the Yellow Wang faction. I think I can speak for almost everyone that what his group managed to do was beyond the imagination of what we thought you were capable of doing. So congrats, I look forward to your continued growth in this field of warfare." After the words left Li Guang''s mouth, everyone just started gossiping their thoughts to their nearest neighbor and continued on this topic for a good few minutes. This time, Li Guang did not stop them, instead he just smiled at the praise that was going Meng Tian''s way. After all, allowing young talent to grow was necessary for the future survival of the Chinese community. Especially with the threat of the Jordsand strategists looming in the distance. (LG) "Now, there are a few other awards that are available, but I will not announce it as I have in the past, the ones who have won something will be sent an invitation to the final ceremony where you will be able to receive your prize. Just in case there are any first timers here, the final ceremony will be held after the land portion of the tournament and that is also when the invited individuals from the other two battlefields will be participating as well, so please dress your best. That is all for now, the water part of the tournament will begin in a few days time, so use this time to strategize if you plan on competing. That is all for now." Li Guang made a few more closing remarks and then promptly left the stage that he was on. (BM) "Congrats again, Meng Tian, it seems that you have acquired quite a bit of fame for yourself." Baron said with a smile. (MT) "It seems like I have. I was only trying to get revenge for my little brother, he did not deserve to die in such a dishonourable way." Meng Tian said with a rare glimpse of anger in his eyes. (MY) "It''s alright brother, you have gotten more than revenge in your rampage. Our name is now better known than before, this is good news. Maybe if we get powerful enough the Vesper faction will not bother our father ever again." Meng Yi said. (MT) "That is just wishful thinking brother. Let''s go get some food, I feel like celebrating." (BM) "I wouldn''t mind some celebratory drinks." (GY) "Neither would I." Guan Yu piped up. (YF) "You guys read my mind." Yue Fei also said. (MY) "Looks like it''s decided. Let''s go." (MT) "Haha, yea." No matter where they went they were always asked to drink with the others in the pub. They had grown even more famous than they had originally planned, perhaps to an almost celebrity status within the tournament. Almost. If they wished to gain any more fame and recognition, then they needed to accomplish more than take down one of the 4 co leaders of the Yellow Wang faction by ganging up on him. They needed to establish more of a reputation worthy of their goals, the alliance with the Forever Pirates led by Madam Zheng was nowhere near enough either. The 5 of them made their way to a little pub that was very out of the way for many of the tournament visitors so as to discuss their future in a secretive manner. They arrived and it seemed like they were going to be the only ones there for a while so Baron began ordering drinks and snacks right as they got there. Just as they were beginning to get deep into their conversation, the 4 co-leaders of the Yellow Wang faction made their entry and the two sides had an intense staring competition. 103 Meng Tians Update The moment that the 4 co-leaders of the Yellow Wang faction entered into the small shop, they immediately noticed Baron and the others and vice versa. Bai Qi locked his gaze upon the person that had caused him specifically a great deal of dishonour, Meng Tian. Li mu locked his gaze on Meng Yi, who was the start of that great war ultimately culminating in Bai Qi''s defeat. Meanwhile, Lian Po and Wang Jian just stared at the other 3 while studying them as if analyzing them of anything that he could. Bai Qi was the first to speak. (BQ) "Humph, I''m not eating here with scrubs like you. You three can stay if you want, but I''m leaving." Bai Qi said as he turned around to leave. (MT) "Heh, shouldn''t you show your superiors a little bit of respect? Just leaving without even greeting us?" Meng Tian said poking fun of Bai Qi. (BQ) "You got lucky is all, if you had even one less element of your plan to take me down missing, then I would have been the victor." He was halfway out the door when Meng Tian interrupted him one last time. (MT) "You should know better than most that it doesn''t really matter about what ifs. All that matters is the result, and the result is that you lost to us." Bai Qi said nothing and left before he exploded with anger. (MT) "Well, he sure took that well." (LM) "You shouldn''t tease him like that. I get it, he is a really hard person to be around, in fact I dare say that there are only a handful of people in this community that hates his guts as much as I do. His actions are deplorable and some of the most bloodthirsty campaigns are under his name. However, he is still one of the 4 co-leaders of the third highest ranked faction here. You should not let us lose face like this, and especially not like what you did before executing him like that back in the sim." Li Mu lectured him. (MT) "Though I am courteous, I feel like having no remorse on this planet is the best response to people like him who just don''t know when to quit. Senior Li Mu." (LP) "Haha, I haven''t seen Bai Qi defeated in such a long time, I was wondering when he was going to get his reckoning. Let''s stop this discussion before we have to fight each other over who said what." Lian Po said trying to deescalate the situation. (BM) "I think that is enough, Meng Tian. Picking a fight with them is not in our best interest at the moment. I''m sure it is hard enough for us now that we have killed one of their figureheads. Should we provoke them any further, I''m not too sure we have any chance of winning the faction selection tournament." Baron whispered into Meng Tian''s ears. (MT) "Very well, this is a time for celebration, we have won a pretty decent award, and you, well you won an entire portion of the tournament. Let us all just sit down and keep to ourselves. What do you say? Save the work talk for later." Meng Tian announced. (LP) "Sounds good to me. Let''s go sit over there." With that awkward meeting out of the way, Baron''s group continued to their talk about their futures. Out of the corner of his eyes, Baron saw that Lian Po had set a rather peculiar device on their table and it emitted a sort of bluish tinge around them almost enveloping them in a sort of way. (BM) "Hey guys, do you know what that device is for? I mean other than emitted some blue light?" (GY) "It''s a pretty rare object around these parts. Through my dealings with the other higher ranked elders, I have found out that it is actually a device that encases a person or group and doesn''t let sound get out from that bubble of blue light." Guan Yu said proudly. (YF) "I have only heard of a few rumours of such a device, I had no idea that it was actually real." Yue Fei marvelled. (MY) "Is that really what that was for? I have been wondering what that was for." Meng Yi said with furrowed brows. (MT) "Hmm? When have you seen it before?" (MY) "Well, after I was killed by Bai Qi in that simulation, I was watching very intently on the screen that showed what was happening inside the sim. Bai Qi was the person I put most of my attention towards. When you guys launched that all out attack he also pulled out a similar device." (BM) "Come to think of it, that device would be pretty handy in wars. If we could talk while making sure that no one could hear us, that could make or break our run. I wonder if this is one of the blueprints that the Sun Alliance faction keeps inside their treasury." (GY) "I think if it is, one of us should surely use our chance to take it. There are no shortage of ways that this could benefit us." (BM) "Agreed." (MT) "Baron, I hope you haven''t forgotten our deal." (BM) "I haven''t don''t worry. You and your brother are set to leave after you help us achieve our goal of becoming an official faction. Why? Are you planning on staying after all?" (MT) "That isn''t it, I have got some rather bad news. I received a message from my father recently and it seems that me and my little brother will not be able to help you out if we fail the faction selection tournament the first time." (BM) "Oh I see, before you could help us if we failed the first time, right? Now you can only help us for the coming faction selection tournament¡­ that''s fine, we just have to win the first time around is all." Baron said with a confident grin on his face. 104 The Naval Warfare Book Baron, Meng Tian, Meng Yi, Guan Yu, and Yue Fei finished up their discussion and split up to take care of some business that would otherwise have to be left until after the SunAlliance tournament. So, they all left the small pub that they had encountered the 4 co-leaders of the Yellow Wang faction at and went about their separate ways. Baron made his way to the VIP room that was under Madam Zheng''s name to get some much needed information about aquatic warfare. After all, Baron had been so focused on the aerial warfare these past few decades that he really hadn''t had proper time to practice in the sea simulations. As he made his way to her room, he happened to meet up with Zi Bo, and Zi Ji Ge. These two were a brother sister pair that had attracted the attention of Madam Zheng and one of these two were going to be selected to become an elder within the Forever Pirates that is being run by Madam Zheng and her two husbands. Zi Bo was the elder brother within this relationship and did not speak much, while his sister Zi Ji Ge was very extroverted and a bit tomboyish. (ZJG) "Wellif it isn''t Baron. Have you come to see Madam Zheng again? I heard that you came while we were out last time." Zi Ji Ge said showing some restraint. (BM) "Well, it''s good to see you too, Zi Bo and Zi Ji Ge." (ZB) "..." Zi Bo remained silent and nodded once. (BM) "Right, I was indeed going to see Madam Zheng. Is something the matter?" (ZJG) "Well, now isn''t the best time since she has other company over. Even we were kicked out this time." (BM) "Who could it be? I suppose you wouldn''t happen to know?" (ZJG) "First call me elder, I don''t like the way you go about like we have the same standing." (BM) "Apologies, elder. Would you happen to know who it was then?" (ZJG) "Well, no. The only thing I could tell you, JUNIOR, is that it must be someone of very high ranking if even we aren''t allowed in on the business. What brings you around to see her this time?" (BM) "Well, I was wondering if she had any contacts that could teach me the basics of aqua warfare." (ZJG) "Well, That is a very big waste of her time. Plus you think too highly of yourself. You need to understand that in this alliance, she is giving you more¡­" At this moment, Zi Bo who had been quiet tugged on his sister''s shoulders and looked at her with pleading eyes. (ZJG) "Humph, fine, do what you want." She said as she stormed off. (BM) "What was that for?" Baron asked puzzled at what just happened. Zi Bo went up to Baron and handed him a book called "My Knowledge of Sea Warfare" by Zi Bo. (ZB) "I need this book back, so bring it to me or Zi Ji Ge after you finish." Zi Bo said and left in a hurry. Baron decided that he would find a nice little place to sit down and to read this book. Though Zi Bo and Zi Ji Ge were no Madam Zheng, their skills were recognized by her regardless. At this point, Baron was more than happy with how things turned out. He went to a public place and started to read what he had been given. The first page contained a little table of contents, the next page had a little note in a language he could not understand so he thought it was probably not meant for him anyway so he should not pursue it further. Finally he started on chapter 1 called, the basics. The basics of aquatic/sea/marine/underwater/naval warfare could be summed up by a few points. The most important of which is that it is a very different type of battlefield than land and air. You can see enemies in the distance on land and air, but in the water, there are more possibilities for your enemies to sneak behind you and deal a heavy blow. Even more so if they have an underwater blueprint. So, the important takeaway from this point is that you need to have a good enough intuition and knowhow of your opponents that they have no chance of outmaneuvering you. Or have sonar and radar equipped on at least your main ship/fleet. Another thing of import is that if you cannot beat your opponents in a head on clash, lead them to somewhere where you can have the advantage. Though this is easier said than done, make sure you have enough knowledge of how bodies of waters work and manipulate it to your advantage. Use manpower, or technology to create a few hidden traps inside your territory. This gives you two advantages, one is that these traps won''t be known to the enemy, and the second is that you will have a place where you can properly and effectively use your fleet to the best of your and their abilities. The importance of your crewmates and your composition of your fleet is also quite crucial to your success, it is best to have a large array of ships at your disposal, if you have too much of any one ship, your tactics are going to become limited and predictable. Letting your crewmates experience multiple drills will make them more effective in battle. The timing of your attacks matter even more in the sea so make sure you have thought of every possible counter to your moves that your enemies can make before you commit to any massive stratagems. The last great matter to attend to is that unless you have some godly contraption or some otherworldly guessing ability, it is much safer to go with upgrading your weapons and defenses as opposed to going for a much nimbler fleet. The reason for this is that the nimbler a ship is, the more likely it will sink after just a few shots. So whenever possible, go for more premium material rather than having more ships. Continued in the next chapter. 105 Battle Of Salamis part 1 Chapter 2: Common tactics for naval warfare. In this regard, land and sea battles aren''t too different. The reason for that is that you can use many of the land strategies for sea, but there is the added risk of attacks coming from the depths, namely underwater submarines. It doesn''t matter if its on land, getting a grasp of your enemies'' movements are still crucial for any battlefield. Another important aspect of naval warfare is that it is heavily dependent on sight. This is different on land because you can still hear the marching of soldiers and military contraptions, but it will be exceedingly difficult in the water since ships can naturally be quieter than land based vehicles. Of course, this only applies to ancient ships made of wood or metal that don''t have any motors. It is quite unfortunate that the Chinese community is lacking in this department. We have no shortage of naval strategists, but we just do not have the technology to outmatch all the other communities. (BM) "Wow, this is all common knowledge, I wonder when it gets to the juicy stuff." Baron said as he looked up from the book to see what was happening around him. As usual, people were rushing around all around him. Though all of these people had an eternity to live, they still acted like the world was ending the very next day. Of course, Baron was no different. He too was going about this world in a brisk manner, all for the love of his life Roxi. It was at this point that Baron realized something, he had been so preoccupied with this world that he had completely forgotten about what was the most dear to him. He had been so focused on creating a faction and somehow winning the death match tournament that he had lost sight of his goal. To get back together with Roxi. He shook the thought out of his head for the moment and tried to continue reading the book. Skimming the rest of the book at breakneck pace, he stopped to fully read parts he deemed was important, and soon enough he had come close to reading the entire book. He flipped to the final chapter and it was compiled of a language that was unclear to Baron. (BM) "Wait a moment." He said to himself as he flipped to the very front of the book to where he saw the other note that had a foreign text. The two seemed to be similar, but once again Baron decided that this was not meant for him and went about his day while tucking the book away. He planned on returning it the next time that he saw Zi Bo. The naval portion of the tournament would begin in about two days, Baron decided that this was the perfect opportunity to test out some of the tactics that were outlined by Zi Bo in his book. So he took it upon himself to train a little bit just before the start of the naval portion of the tournament. Baron tried to get a grasp of this type of warfare by entering one of the pre tournament sims that was going on all over the place. All he had to do was go up to someone and ask if they were willing to spar with him. The majority of the time it was fairly easy to get an opponent, however, the quality of the opponent severely depended on luck. As luck would have it, Baron was paired with a rather novice enemy. He did not mind it though as he was basically a beginner as well, after all, he had not been in even one completely naval entanglement before. Who knows how he would fare to even someone of this person''s caliber. He would be facing someone known as Xiao Li. The sim started with the settings on random and once they got in they found out that the battle that they would be fighting in was the famous battle of Salamis in 480 BC. The battle was between Xerxes of Persia and a Greek alliance. This was the second part of the battle of Thermopylae, which was one of the universally favorited training ground for land battles. There were many similarities in these two battlefields, for one, the attacking forces led by Xerxes vastly outnumbered the defenders, but the defenders had a really great geographical advantage. The glaring difference though was that historically, Xerxes would retreat his entire force after seeing the horrendous losses that his fleet was taking, even though that was the same situation as the battle of Thermopylae where he chose to continue his assault despite the losses. Not many people knew of this type of history, but not many cared for it either. Baron knew why the attackers would eventually lose, but then again, so would anyone who has played this sim before. It was because the attacking forces were lured to fight in a strait that was not very advantageous for their larger ships. It was going to be a 800 ship versus 370 ship in favour of the attacking forces. Power vs. maneuverability. Once inside the simulation, Baron found out that he was on the side of the Greek defenders and that he had been given the better geography. There were only a few days of preparations and Baron had to make the most of it. His soldiers were extremely well trained already for sea warfare, after all, they were Greek and their livelihoods depended on the waters. So in this regard they were already a force to be reckoned with. Though victory was leaning towards him already, there were still much to take into consideration. First things first, one of the favorites of Baron was going to make a comeback, the repeating crossbow, as well as the flamethrower that he had made to combat one of his now allies. One of his goals in the foreseeable future was to find the blueprint for Greek fire, the only substance that could enhance his flamethrower to an even scarier level of destruction. 106 Battle Of Salamis part 2 Baron decided that it was best for him that only one flamethrower was made for his own personal use. This is due to the extreme difficulty of wielding it that is best left to Baron. The repeating crossbows were a different story altogether with Baron having them mass produced. The preparation time that was given to both sides were not enough for Baron to fulfill his quota, therefore he did something that was unexpected. He took a small detachment, left the geographically superior land that he was given with the intent to stall the enemy for as long as he could. This was by no means an easy task as Baron only took about 100 greek triremes with him. Against the 800 or so Persian ships, they were an almost insignificant force, nearly laughable. However, Baron only made his presence be known by his opponent Xiao Li. He would not engage if he had to, just his presence alone made it clear that he wanted to draw Xiao Li''s attention from something else entirely. ------------------------- Xiao Li was someone that had always been cautious, but now that he was on the attacking side he could not be cautious forever. Plus, now that the enemy general was right there in front of him, he had to think about his next course of action before committing his forces to anything major, such is his way. He thought for half a day before deciding that it was best for him to stay his hand and just to wait for his rival to make the move since he also needed the extra time to prepare his blueprints as well. A day passes by, two days, three days, finally Xiao Li had had enough and with his preparations complete, he set out his fleet to counter Baron. He had not been living under a rock, there were a lot of rumors going around about the combined forces of Meng Tian, Baron, and a few others that had actually managed to take down Bai Qi, one of the 4 co-leaders of the Yellow Wang faction. Xiao Li always listened to these types of rumors, this way he could pay extra attention to those who seem to be rising to the top of the social hierarchy within the Chinese community. Luckily, he had heard about how although Baron didn''t have the most contributions out of his group within the aerial portion of the tournament, he did do quite a few things that could be considered quite extraordinary. All of this led Xiao Li to the conclusion that Baron must be quite the witty general who needs to be studied more seriously than the others that he had fought before. Which were mostly beginners. So, once his preparations were done, he immediately had his entire fleet chase after Baron. No matter how much he tried to pursue though, the Greek ships within Baron''s control were way too fast and small to ever target efficiently. However, Baron''s fleet was always just outside of Xiao Li''s fleets arrow range but close enough that they could make constant eye contact with each other''s ships. Xiao Li knew where Baron was leading him, the place where the actual battle of Salamis was. He wasn''t afraid of Baron though, the reason being that he had what he believed to be an ace up his sleeve, a couple of missiles cleverly hidden between his ships that could fire with deadly accuracy. There were only a couple of these so he waited for the best opportunity to do it, and he believed that time would come when Baron''s fleet was closely grouped together like he planned they would be once he entered the straight. These missiles weren''t very modern nor could they hit targets that were over 1 kilometer away and that was already pushing it, but they were the best blueprint in his arsenal, and plus, missiles even dated blueprints are still considered pretty rare within the Chinese community. This, of course, doesn''t hold true if you were within one of the top factions, then it only becomes a matter of connections. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. The Persian fleet under Xiao li followed Baron''s Triremes for another full 2 days before finally entering the strait that would hold the decisive clash between the two sides. This 2-day chase was due to Baron''s fleet sailing to all sorts of weird places that only made sense if they were stalling for time. Xiao Li had been in this sim a couple of times and he knew that the best course of action for the defending side was going to be to let the majority of the ships through and swarm them with their superior quality of soldiers. However, Baron would sorely disappoint in this matter and instead let almost all the ships in before making a move. Xiao Li was puzzled by what he was seeing, he did not think that Baron was so much of a beginner that he would use the most effective by the book tactic for this map that he was momentarily shocked by the lack of response. Then it all seemed to go wrong for him, in an instant he was surrounded by multiple units that were very spread out on the two sides that surrounded the strait. They immediately let loose volley after volley of crossbows that their shadows momentarily blotted out the sun. He quickly snapped out of his trance and sprang into action. First, he had ordered multiple ships to dock onto the two islands that were surrounding the strait and slaughter everyone there. Then he began to let loose a couple of his missiles at Baron''s general direction to show off just what he had in his arsenal. At this point, the Greek triremes had yet to leave their docks and instead it looked like they weren''t even planning on using those ships at all. Then the reckoning happened and at least a few hundred ships came in behind them to flank them and cause mass panic. 107 Battle Of Salamis part 3 The battle was now in full throttle, Xiao Li was doing everything in his power to get out of being surrounded in all sides by Baron''s forces. There was an entire fleet behind them which he had already sent a few of his own to counter. Then there were the repeating crossbow units which were unleashing a torrent of unrelenting bolts from both sides. The only path that they could take was the path in front of them, but Xiao Li knew all too well that Baron was planning on him taking that route. So, to not fall into an even bigger mess than he was already in, Xiao Li decided to stay his hand and to just see how things panned out for now. This turned out to be a major mistake on his part since he found out that the Greek soldiers that he was fighting turned out to be more ferocious than what he had experienced before. Since he had been on this sim before, he already knew that the Persian sailors under him were nowhere near the seafarers like the Greeks were, but this new level of insane skills was something that he was having trouble believing in. This went beyond what he had predicted and sent in more of his ships to aid in countering the fleet that appeared behind them. To the left and right of his army though, things were looking up, the repeating crossbow units that were posted were not as adept at fighting and were very slowly being overwhelmed. Hence why they were left with the easiest task of pointing and shooting. In front of his army, were a couple of Greek Triremes that were just sitting on the docks not moving at all. This type of fighting persisted for nearly an hour before the next major development took place of which Xiao Li felt he was close enough to launch his missiles. To the amazement of the fighting soldiers of both sides, multiple missiles were aimed and shot down the docked triremes and sunk them in record time. For this maneuver, he had used up all but 3 of his missiles which he felt was just enough to end the sim for good. From what he could tell, he had sunk nearly 100 of Baron''s ships and that was no small number considering that Baron had less than 400 to begin with and at this point in time, Xiao Li still had over 600. After the stunt with the missiles, a very distinct and piercing sound was being emanated from all around the map. There must have been over a hundred individuals that were participating because the moment this signal sounded, all of Baron''s remaining forces retreated like the wind. The crossbow units on land, the ships that were starting to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of the Persian fleet, and any others that were straggling around gone just like that. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. Xiao Li thought this type of behaviour was a tad too suspicious. If his opponent just retreated like that, he was essentially giving up since one of the objectives was to get past the strait and claim the lands past it. Though he was unsure of what Baron was doing, he still decided to go for it. The amount of damage that he had done to the Greek fleet was not a small number, in fact, going by his estimates, he had already taken out 40% of the enemy''s ships. He ordered his fleet to move forward while simultaneously getting a quick recount of how many ships and men he had left after the last battle. It took a while but he got his answer, he had lost more than he thought, 525 ships along with 10,000 men. This was surprising to him since the proportion of men lost to ships lost was way off. The reason was most likely due to the repeating crossbow units that were waiting for them in ambush and managed to let loose quite a few thousand rounds before retreating. None of this mattered though, all he had to do to win this sim was to claim the land that he was fast approaching. Every moment that passed by he knew there was something that Baron was planning. No one would be willing to give up in a sim, even if it was a low-level one that no one paid any attention to. Thus, he had ordered his men to stay on guard and report the tiniest of movements back to him. It was as he expected, once he came within a few kilometers of the shore, another batch of ships came in from behind and yet another came in from the port that he thought he had destroyed with his missiles just a few hours prior. On either side of them once again appeared many men, however, this time they were not armed with crossbows, but rather, flaming arrows. It seemed as though there were only about a hundred ships that were preparing to engage him, which meant that either there were a few dozen more hiding somewhere else, or they weren''t going to use them. The flaming arrows were let loose volley after volley tens of thousands filled up the sky then the waters and ships as more and more came down upon his Persian fleet. Xiao Li once again sent the rear guard to intercept the ships behind them and a few ships to the sides to take care of the archers. Then he moved to the front of his fleet to better deal with the enemies to the front. He became so entangled with these enemies that he did not see that nearly all of his rear guard was getting overpowered. What he did not expect was the speed at which his entire detachment was burned to a crisp. However, once he got the news, he immediately realized that no flaming arrows could do this kind of damage this fast. He was correct since Baron was the one to use his ancient flamethrower to burn down the ships in record time. 108 Battle Of Salamis End In his desperation, Xiao Li used all three of his missiles to blow a hole through the defensive formation to his front and ordered his men to take the land that was in front of him. Though his blast did do a lot of damage to the ships in front of him, there were still a dozen or so that were standing in his way. All he had to do now was to blow right past them and take the land before Baron caught up to him and that would be his win, no matter how many he had lost. Xiao Li''s ships were quite a bit slower than the Greeks under Baron''s control, but he had been given quite a headstart, something he suspected would be enough for him to claim victory. Indeed he pushed his fleet onward and the few pitiful ships and men in front of him could not even hold a candle in front of them and immediately crumpled under the mighty Persians. Now the only thing that could pose a threat to his fleet aside from Baron''s own few ships were the flaming archers to the side. In front of him was nothing but the open seas. Then he got the worst surprise of his afterlife. There were a bunch of Greek soldiers just waiting at the docks for him. This meant that if he wanted to finish the objective of claiming the land, he would need to engage in a slight land skirmish before he could do it. Which would give Baron ample time to catch up and burn everything to the ground with the ancient flame thrower. What to do, what to do? He was short on time, men, patience, and resources. Everything that was available to him wasn''t great options. If he chose to pursue the land fight, Baron would catch up for sure. If he went to clash with Baron head on he would be inviting disaster since there was nothing in his arsenal that could counter the flame thrower. The strait in front of them split up into two and he knew there was a way for the remainder of his fleet to retreat if he so chose to do so. He knew that there were no good options and if he did choose to retreat then he would have lost more ships and men while trying to get away. In the end, he chose to retreat, it was way better in his opinion to allow his men to fight another day than to all perish here and now. He headed for the channel to his right and tried his best to get away with Baron''s fleet fast behind them. They made it a little ways before they saw yet another enemy fleet in front of them! There weren''t many ships, less than 30, but getting past these ones would use up valuable time to get away. It was entirely possible to beat them quickly, but they would never be able to beat them fast enough that Baron would still need to chase them down. They were now out of the range from the archers with flame arrows, but what does that matter now that they were surrounded in front and behind them, and landlocked to the left and right? The Greek soldiers that were inhibiting their taking over of the land earlier had followed them and were keeping them in their line of sight. Xiao Li knew that this was the end for him. How was he supposed to get out of this situation? There weren''t many options and even then they were almost guaranteed to get slaughtered. If only he had kept one of his missiles from before he might have had a chance to get out of this situation. He decided that he would just try his best to muscle his way through the small fleet in front of him. The situation was so dire that he himself took to the battlefield in hopes of getting out as quickly as possible. The two sides clashed in a fervor of battle cries, screaming, and cursing. Xiao Li fought with all his might, as did the Persian soldiers that followed him into the thick of battle. In some miraculous way, they actually made it past them with Baron''s group still a reasonable distance away. They still had almost 400 ships left in their fleet, and since Baron''s ships were faster than the much bigger Persian ships, they would be upon them in a few more minutes. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. The strait became narrower and narrower the more they went forward and soon enough, the back of their fleet was beginning to engage with Baron. They stood close to no chance as Baron barely needed to even stop before sinking the ships into the water full of flames. Baron quickly made his way through and he personally sunk over 50 ships with the Persian soldiers still inside them screaming at the pain. It was then that Xiao Li got the worst surprise of his life. In front of them were another 25 or so ships. It was likely that they were the last of Baron''s defenses before he could get out. However, Baron was already engaging with the rear, there was nothing he could do now, he had lost in such a way. Baron''s progress could only be said to be demonic. With just one flamethrower he was able to decimate nearly all of Xiao Li''s remaining forces. The 25 ships in front of him were not even moving, just waiting for them to come to him. Baron continued and eventually, the sea was dyed with the bodies of burned men and thousands of pieces of burnt wood. Xiao Li''s fleet still pushed forward, but with every passing minute, all they could see behind them was a path of carnage and destruction. They had started off with almost 800 ships, and now they were a pitiful, measly 200. Though they had fought valiantly they were, in the end, no match for Baron''s flamethrower. Xiao Li surrendered. 109 Asking For A Favour Baron had just gotten the notification that he was victorious when he was transported out of the sim. Once out, he looked at Xiao Li and the two began to chat. (XL) "Looks like I was no match for you Baron. Looks like the rumours of you being quite the resourceful strategist to be no mere fluke. Just one question though, how did you know that I would run out of missiles after turning to retreat?" Xiao Li asked in curiosity. (BM) "Well, I actually banked on you using up the missiles on the first group of 30 or so ships that went to intercept you. The second group was actually defending the direction that you didn''t go towards, that''s why they didn''t move." Baron confessed. (XL) "I see, looks like I need to experience more naval warfare before I can deem myself an expert. Thank you for the sim, I have other matters to attend to. I''ll be leaving now, good luck to you on the sea battle portion on the tournament." (BM) "You as well my friend." Baron waved off Xiao Li as he made his way to Madam Zheng''s VIP residence once again. He had been in the sim just now for approximately a day or so in planet 4''s time and he thought it was enough time for Madam Zheng to finish with her important meeting with another famous elder. Just as he reached the door, he saw Zi Bo and Zi Ji Ge just standing outside guarding the door. Baron went up to them and asked them what was happening now. (ZJG) "Well, if you must know, Madam Zheng is in the middle of a strategic meeting with her two husbands at the moment. We''re just out here to make sure that no one disturbs them." Xi Ji Ge said with that too good attitude of hers. (BM) "Oh, I see. Might I just ask then, senior, will the two of you be joining those three when the tournament starts?" (ZJG) "Well, I suppose there isn''t any harm in telling you. We do not plan on teaming up with them in the early stages of the tournament, but rather to work independently at first then merge once the competition becomes too much for me and my brother to handle. What are you planning on doing?" (BM) "Well, I was wondering if I could ask a favor. The favor being if we could tag along with one of the elders of your faction." (ZJG) "Oh? I heard that your group was not too shabby during the aerial warfare portion of the tournament, why are you asking now?" (BM) "We have been practicing aerial strategies for the better part of the last few decades and that left us with no time to train for land battles, much less for naval pursuits" (ZJG) "Hah, makes sense. Then doesn''t that mean that you guys aren''t all that prepared for the land battles then?" (BM) "Unfortunately so, once this tournament ends, we will have to go back to training for that even more now that we have more exposure to even more strategies. It''s all for that faction selection tournament. I''m afraid to say that if we don''t win during the upcoming one, we will lose our two best aerial strategists and our chances of winning will be lower the next time we attempt it." (ZJG) "Well, I don''t think any of the other elders of the Forever Pirates will be grateful that they have to babysit during the tournament, even if it is their boss that tells them to do it. So find someone else." She said as she felt a tug on her shirt. It was her brother again, and he was looking at her with another expression that he wanted his sister to reconsider. This time it wasn''t pleading, rather more of a this has a meaning type of look. (ZJG) "Alright fine! I don''t know why you like him so much. You can join us once the tournament begins, but you should know that you are never to question our choices, got it?" (BM) "Really, thank you, seniors. Also, Zi Bo, I need a bit more time with the book you gave to me, that alright with you?" Baron asked to which Zi Bo just nodded his head in agreement. Baron left after saying goodbye to the two siblings and went to go meet up with Guan Yu and Yue Fei. These three were going to go take part in the naval part of the tournament, and the Meng duo would just be sitting and spectating this time around. With less than half a day to go until it started, Baron and the other two started to strategize on what they would do inside the sim. (BM) "Hey guys, if you want to team with naval experts, Zi Bo and Zi Ji Ge have agreed to take us in," Baron said. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. (GY) "That''s a good thing, naval warfare is not in our priorities at the moment and gaining experience from actual experts will prove to be extremely worth our time even if it means that we won''t be able to rack up any notable achievements." Guan Yu pointed out. (YF) "I agree with that sentiment. Experience in warfare we are not familiar with is the best path to take." Yue Fei agreed. (BM) "I''m glad that the two of you agree. Oh right, before we start get to the tournament, read this book." Baron said as he handed the book given from Zi Bo to the other two. (GY) "A guide to naval warfare hey? Sounds interesting." (YF) "It''s not too terribly wrong, reading it before the tournament shouldn''t be a problem. (BM) "Just make sure you take everything you read with a grain of salt since what he writes is based on his own experience and we are all different strategists who use different strategies." (GY) "Of course, that is to be expected since he seems to be the more defensive type, whereas I excel at offensives." 110 Start Of The Naval Tournamen Baron, Guan Yu, and Yue Fei all went to the tournament waiting room. This time around was the time that strategists could talk and make potential alliances before it even began. As luck would have it, the moment that they stepped into the waiting room they saw Zi Bo and Zi Ji Ge. The two sides made eye contact and started to make their way to each other. (ZJG) "Well, we meet again junior." ZI Ji Ge said in a rather condescending way. (BM) "It''s nice to see the two of you again as well." Baron responded. (ZJG) "Well, since my brother and I are going to be the leaders of this alliance, you three will have to listen to us. No exceptions, got it?" (GY) "We will rely on your guidance." (YF) "None from me." (BM) "That is what this alliance is for, after all. No objections." (ZJG) "Very good. I have discussed this with Madam Zheng. The way she wants to do this is that she will form a group with her two husbands. The five of us will be another group, and the rest of the elders will form the last group." (BM) "Oh? Are they leaving the two of you alone to see how well you perform? That''s the only reason I can think of that would allow you to form a separate group." (ZJG) "That is correct, this is sort of a test to gauge our abilities. They do need to since we are up for the position of elder. It''s sad that only one of us will make it." (BM) "So, where will we meet? Also, who do you think is going to be the most likely to win this tournament?" (ZJG) "Well, since the Bair fighters won''t be joining this one, I''d say that it would have to be a pretty big fight against the Forever Pirates led by Madam Zheng and the Vesper faction led by Zheng He. The reason that Vesper is targeting us and you is because these two heads of great faction just cannot get along." (BM) "Sounds to me like they feel threatened by each other''s skill and therefore are lashing out at each other because of it." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. (ZJG) "From what I know, the Vesper faction struck first and left a devastating pile of destruction in their thirst to take out Madam Zheng''s faction. As for your other question, we will meet right here where this island is. Since this is a naval war, the majority of the map will be covered in water, that doesn''t mean that there won''t be any islands though." (GY) "Might I ask how many sea-related blueprints the two of you have? I''m only asking because we only have one and it isn''t even all that great." (ZJG) "Well, naval warfare is our specialty, so naturally we will have more than what you guys will have. So far though, we have a few hundred ship blueprints, most of which aren''t that modern. A few guns that we can mount on the ships, we don''t actually have much in that department. Finally, we just make do with whatever other blueprints that we have stored up." (BM) "I see, we will provide any of our blueprints if we are able to, but for now it seems like the tournament is about to start." He said just as the announcements were being made for the strategists to be ready to be transported to inside the sim. (ZJG) "It seems like that is so. See you all on the other side." She said and a blinding flash of light sprung forth from somewhere in the room and then there was nothing but an ocean view in front of Baron''s view. This time around, everybody would be given 50 or so ships that were all equal in standing and an equal number of men with the same abilities as each other. Baron was aboard his ship and he went inside his ship to take a look at the map. He had seen it before when Zi Ji Ge told him where they should meet, this time he was just looking to take a look at where he was and how far he was away from the meetup point. The place where they agreed to meet up was not too far away from him and he set out immediately, As did his allies in this tournament. The way that the territory worked in this tournament was that some territories were completely covered in water, some completely on dry land, and some a combination of the two. This meant that some got exactly what they wanted and defending their land was going to be a piece of cake, while others would be extremely unlucky. Baron, Guan Yu, Yue Fei, Zi Bo, and Zi Ji Ge all met up at the rendezvous and discussed what they would do. The most pressing matter was that none of the territories that had been given to them were of any real strategic value individually. So they put all of it up on the base market and hoped for the best. Going by the map, nearly 80% of the land on this randomly generated map was water while the rest were small to medium sized islands. The islands would have more value since it gave some semblance of using land weapons. The preparation for this map was a little longer than the last at 2 weeks. Within the first week, they had all sold their territories and bought one that had a small island on it. They were already off to a great start and they made weapons and whatever else they deemed necessary for their survival. As it stands now, the 5 of them were in the southwest part of the map, with Madam Zheng and her two husbands slightly north of them, and the last group of elders all the way at the other side of the map closer to the edge of the east. 111 The First Few Days As Madam Zheng and Baron''s group were so close to each other, they decided that they would each conquer in different directions from each other. Madam Zheng would conquer north and eastwards, while the latter decided to subjugate to the south, west, and east. Zi Bo and Zi Ji Ge were no slowpokes when it came time to train their troops and getting their weapons and such into working order. Those two spent days before the official start date of the clashing on working out a workable way to win as much land as possible. There weren''t a lot of islands in their vicinity and there were in total 3 or 4 giant islands that would prove even more difficult to take once the tournament progressed to the later stages. This was not something that they could control so they could only gradually conquer instead of continuing in one direction so that they could take one of the big islands for themselves. For one, the waters here were deep enough for submarines to comfortably operate and that would ensure a whole new level of risk that would come with venturing too far from the homeland. The situation with bases was a little unique with the naval tournament in that if you didn''t have land in your territory, you could only use your ships as your base. This meant that if you don''t have land nor a sturdy enough main fleet, your chances of success weren''t very high. Plus, even if you did manage to have a strong fleet, it didn''t guarantee that you would have a higher chance of survival. In this competition, having land was crucially important for a multitude of reasons. The main one being that no matter how powerful you are, there is nothing better than being able to regroup with your men on dry land. The other reason is that it is possible to use land-based weaponry on land. The same could not be said when all you have are ships. This adds an extra layer of defense when it comes to defending territory. At the beginning, there were over 10 thousand strategists that were vying for supremacy out in the open waters. Those that shared territory with land started to fight each other so that they would be the sole rulers of their island. Others made truces and alliances because they knew that it was better to not get into a death feud right at the start, No matter how many weapons and men one had, there were more uses for them at the later stages rather than at the beginning. Madam Zheng''s group and ZI Ji Ge''s group decided to not do this since they knew from experience that these pacts didn''t last anyway and it was better to get rid of competition early on rather than when both sides have matured into their most fearsome state. Madam Zheng''s group had a much larger island that they had to fight over so they took a little while longer than Zi Ji Ge''s but they managed to do it since their opponents weren''t the most experienced strategists. Zi Bo and Zi Ji Ge had a much smaller island to conquer and as such needed less than a week to do so. Madam Zheng''s group took closer to 3 weeks. With one small island under their control, the Zi siblings quickly made use of the land to make sure that they had enough defenses on the island. The two leaders did not have many blueprints in this department and Baron and the other two stepped in and provided a few they thought were appropriate. They brought out missiles, radio towers, a bunch of radars and Baron''s favorite ancient flamethrower. The reason Baron decided to use this here was that it would be overly useful to fleets that were still made of wood, not so much when it came to anything modern and made of metal. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. While this weapon was not exactly useful for the endgame of such a large tournament like this, it would serve to be extremely useful for anyone still using ancient ships. The radio and radar technologies were built in record time and they were able to communicate with each other and be able to detect enemy ships that had a motor within a 25 km radius of them. The only disadvantage would be that wooden ships would be able to slip through, that''s why there were multiple men stationed around the island to keep watch of anyone coming to steal their land. This was only possible because they were able to convince most of the other strategists that had territory within the land to convert themselves to be under the Zi siblings. This proved to be a great boon to their strength and a great early advantage. Once they had prepared all of their defenses, and other infrastructure projects, they continued to conquer all of the territories with the people now under their control. Within 3 months of the battle start date, the Zi siblings'' territory reached from the southwestern edge of the map to the almost a quarter way to the middle of the map. They did not make much leeway into territories from their north due to Madam Zheng instructing them not to do such a thing. Madam Zheng, on the other hand, had claimed much more territory in addition to their mid-sized island that they had to take control of first. Her group did not rely on absorbing conquered enemies into their own group. Instead, they adopted a tactic like the Bair fighters in the previous competition had. This might have led to an overall decrease in their strength but Madam Zheng knew that it was better to rely on people she has fought with before instead of relying on strangers. Three months in she was doing war with the corner island on the northwesternmost island that extended all the way to the edge of the map. 112 Elders In Trouble The battles continued to rage on for another year 6 months after that, then there was a short period of relative peace so that all of the remaining fleets could take a much-needed breather. It was at this time that Madam Zheng and the Zi siblings finally met up after not being able to for the past little while. This meeting would have Baron, Zi Bo, Zi Ji Ge, and Madam Zheng meeting up to discuss what their battle plans for the future would entail. (MZ) "Nice to see you again Baron. It seems like you and these two seem to get along well if they agreed to let you be allies." Madam Zheng said in a sophisticated voice. (BM) "Getting to learn from these two experts these past few months have been an incredible experience from my part. It has surely opened my eyes to the possibilities of what is possible to achieve on the open seas." Baron openly complimented the siblings. (ZJG) "Humph, you better believe it! Though I must say that everyone in his group seems to be quite the quick learner. These past few months they went from having little to no experience to being able to hold their own against even mediocre strategists." Zi Ji Ge said in a flowery voice that did not suit her personality at all. (ZB) "..." Zi Bo said nothing and looked around the room with his usual blank face. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. (MZ) "Heh. Well, I''m glad to hear that. Now, I suppose we should get to the briefing of what we need to achieve in the coming months. First though, let''s hear of what your group has accomplished so far, Zi JI Ge and Zi Bo." (ZJG) "Yes, ma''am. We have managed to conquer the island that we first set our sights on within a few days of the battle commencing. Then, in the coming months, we had claimed lands as far west as the Vesper faction''s Wu San Gui''s territory, we are fighting them as we speak. Lastly, we have managed to make our borders line up with yours and we are able to merge with your group any time you please." She said with a sort of satisfied look. (MZ) "Very good, I heard that you had many successes due to the ancient flamethrower against some of the fodder strategists, Baron?" (BM) "Indeed, it is quite useful against ships made of wood, not so much for something like metal ships. Though I plan on fixing that once I get the formula for Greek fire. Rumors say that they are able to burn anything even underwater, though it may be exaggerated, it is a much stronger substance than whatever nonsense that I have powering my machine right now. (MZ) "Is that so? Mind if you allow us to test a few of it later?" (BM) "Not at all, I''ll send 50 to you next week. Though they won''t be able to melt most metals, it will still serve useful as many other types of attacks, as you will soon be able to see." (MZ) "Excellent, let me tell you about our end of the situation before we talk about the future. So, as I''m sure that you know, we have taken over the majority of the west, northwest, and a bit of the central region of the maps." (BM) "Yes, I heard that the people that inhabited the island on the northwest part of the map put up quite a fight when you guys showed up." (MZ) "Indeed, we suffered a few minor setbacks but nothing too alarming. The problem lies with how the Vesper faction has seriously limited our ability to expand by taking over the majority of the central regions. This means that if we want to get past them to get at the rest of the resources beyond them, we will have to either wipe them off the map or cripple them. Doing either is no small task might I add." (ZJG) "So what''s the plan? Will we be doing traditional tactics or will we be going along with some scheme that you and your two hubbies cooked up?" (MZ) "This era of peace will not last long. Even so, we have not been able to find a solution to taking them down. If we do nothing and allow them to grow stronger as we stagnate, then this is as good as lost. However, if we do decide to do something, we ourselves might be crippled so badly that we will not be able to continue on with the competition." (BM) "It seems like there isn''t much of a choice is there? Wait for Vesper to become strong enough to take us down or fight them head-on with neither side being at full power." (ZJG) "Seems so, will the elders be joining us in our battle against Vesper then?" (MZ) "It seems unlikely that will be the case. Vesper has been hounding them down for quite a while now and I don''t think they will be able to hold back until the end of the first year. I''ve heard that Vesper has sent in some of their best to get rid of our elders right in the beginning." (BM) "That''s not good, especially since we will be needing every possible resource available to us to win against Vesper." (MZ) "Quite right, but our elders are in a remote part of the other side of the map. We won''t exactly be able to sneak past them in order to rescue our allies. Though it pains me to say it, they will likely be terminated by the Vesper faction and we can only sit by and watch as that happens. They are cornered and I believe that there are far more risks than I''d like to take if I were to mount any real sort of recovery mission." (BM) "What If we didn''t try to rescue them, but instead we launch a multi-pronged attack on one of the main bases of the Vesper faction?" 113 The Situation At Forever Pirates (MZ) "Something like that would require multiple days if not weeks of prior strategizing and that time could be better spent on other matters. Plus, even if we do rescue the elders of my faction, we would be seriously stretching our resources thinner than I''d like." Madam Zheng replied to Baron''s idea. (BM) "Hear me out on this. What you say is absolutely correct, there is no doubt about that in my mind. However, you are not considering one important aspect of this situation." Baron started. (MZ) "What would that be?" She looked with curiosity. (ZJG) "Dang, I''m kind of intrigued now as well." Zi Ji Ge said. (BM) "Well, note that I said that we launch an attack on one of the main bases of the Vesper faction. What I have in mind is for a 3 pronged attack on this line of bases right here which have only 3 bases within it. All of the other lines to get past their barricades will no doubt be a tougher challenge." (ZJG) "Wait, so¡­" (BM) "What I''m proposing is going to take a massive amount of teamwork from the elders'' forces as well as our two groups here. The plan will go like this, Madam Zheng and our group will go and attack the two bases in this line that is closest to us. Then, we will make our retreat as if to signal to the Vesper faction that this was nothing more than a little skirmish." (MZ) "I see, that way the group of elders will be able to break through the last base which shouldn''t be a problem for them and they will once again be on our side with a formidable force under them as well. That''s not a bad idea." (ZJG) "I won''t say whether this plan is appropriate or not, but you should know that this plan relies on too many unknown factors. What if they send in more of their fleet to support that one important base than we had originally planned? What if they send a bunch of ships after us once we fulfill our side of the conquests?" (BM) "From the very beginning I had anticipated that this plan would likely not unfold in the way I just described, I do. However, there will be a second part of this plan that would be very hard to decipher from an enemies'' point of view." (MZ) "...and that would be?" (BM) "Well, the first fleet to engage with the Vesper faction will draw enemy fire by splitting up on a roundabout path to the north and south parts of Vesper''s territory and start a long and drawn out battle. We just have to show our resolve in breaking the two points and they will naturally send in more reinforcements. Once they are relatively short on manpower, that is the best time for the elders'' to make their escape." (MZ) "That is a lot better than what you had proposed just a minute ago. The only thing that I would change when putting this plan into action would be to make sure that we do not have anyone know about this, aside from one or two of our elders in the other camp." (BM) "That makes sense, who in the other camp is the most trustworthy?" (MZ) "Most of my elders have actually been under my husbands'' or I''s control even back when we were all still alive. However, the only reason I am now seeking new elders which I have no prior knowledge of under me is that some of my inner circle are turning on me." (ZJG) "That was the reason? I''m rather surprised to hear that." (MZ) "That is not something I let slip to unknowns. However, the three of you here at least deserve to know. Sad as it is to say, if my faction survives the Vesper''s onslaught of suppressing us, then I would have to consolidate my power and make it absolute like it once was." (BM) "I''ve been meaning to ask for some time now, but how are you the leader of this place and not your two husbands? Did you come here before them or something?" (MZ) "No actually, both of them managed to come here about a decade before I made my way down here. They had gotten into some loan shark scheme and could not for the life of them get out of it. When I came here, it took me nearly a year before I found them. Luckily, the elder that did my testing took a note out of Yue Fei and Guan Yu''s book and gave me a heads up about what to expect here and the norms. Thanks to that I did not fall victim to the schemes and a few years after that, I was able to release both of my husbands'' debts." (BM) "That is an incredible story." (MZ) "Well, they may be buffoons, but they''re my buffoons. Plus, I don''t think that I would have been able to create a faction here if it weren''t for those two. They have their uses as do all the elders under me." (ZJG) "No wonder you guys have been able to hold out so long, most factions that are under pressure from Vesper seem to die out pretty quickly. I knew it was right to convince my brother into trying to get in here. Right brother?" (ZB) "..." Zi Bo didn''t say anything and shrugged. (BM) "Why is it that there are people under you that are trying to take over? Aren''t you all close like you said or are these just baseless rumors?" (MZ) "They are there because some, not the majority mind you, think that my way of dealing with Vesper is not the best way and that they can lead the faction better than I can." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. (BM) "If this plan does succeed, will the voices of dissent disappear?" (MZ) "Some will, but the majority won''t. I believe that some have been bribed into causing a ruckus." (BM) "That is quite a bold statement, Madam Zheng." 114 Announcement for SRDM Hey guys, it''s been one hell of a journey for me as I started this story over half a year ago on the night I took my citizenship exam. Since then, I have written over 175,000 words, learned how to type faster than I ever thought I could achieve, got to connect with some of you, got some amazing feedback, made at least a few of you entertained, and so much more. Alas, I have decided that I will not be posting on web novel any longer. If you want to read the rest of my work, I will link every chapter that I have completed up to this date, Wednesday, June 5, onto this page right here. Honestly though, if you want to continue reading my work, I highly suggest getting an account on moonquill and adding my book to your collection. This site will need you to disable your Adblock though so be aware of that fact. Don''t worry the ads aren''t intrusive, even I as an author have to disable it. As of now, there will be 30 chapters for you to enjoy if you do decide to head on over to moonquill. There is infinite scrolling on this site so you can click onto chapter 114 and read until you hit my latest chapter. Or you can go to each link individually if that is what you prefer. If you make an account, you will be able to track what chapters you have read and that decreases a lot of the confusion if you were planning on checking the website every so often to see me or any of the other authors. I will be doing 2 chapters a day, 1k words each until the end of August. I am also planning on releasing a sequel to this series involving Baron embarking on one of his most eye-opening simulations ever. It''s just that I haven''t decided if I wanted to make it dark or something else. Any suggestions? As always, my work will always be free to read for the rest of the duration of its life. My goal is still to reach at least one million words by the end of it, and by the way, my story is structured, it looks like it will be at least 3 million. Please give me support by going to moonquill and reading the chapters there. In the end, I''m sorry to say that I made the move for selfish reasons. While the big one is to obviously get paid, although not very much compared to Amazon, there is another reason that I had to change websites. I just feel that the way that web novel''s algorithm works, my novel will never be popular and likely never will. Something else that prompted me to action was that I would be a pioneer of a site in its infancy. Right now strategist reincarnation death match is one of the top 15 most viewed novels on the site, and that brings me a lot of joy honestly. For those of you who have read up to this point and decide to not continue, well, I hope you find more novels that satisfy your taste. My absolute favorite manga of all time is kingdom and this is the story that inspired me to write this novel. Here is a link: https://readkingdom.com/chapter/kingdom-chapter-001/ Here is the link to the website, it''s new: moonquill.com here is the next chapter, chapter 114: https://www.moonquill.com/book/40/4958 here is chapter 115 and onwards: https://www.moonquill.com/book/40/4994 116: https://www.moonquill.com/book/40/4958 Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. 117: https://www.moonquill.com/book/40/5018 118: https://www.moonquill.com/book/40/5039 119: https://www.moonquill.com/book/40/5054 120: https://www.moonquill.com/book/40/5065 121: https://www.moonquill.com/book/40/5085 122: https://www.moonquill.com/book/40/5155 123: https://www.moonquill.com/book/40/5168 124: https://www.moonquill.com/book/40/5175 125: https://www.moonquill.com/book/40/5181 126: https://www.moonquill.com/book/40/5192 127: https://www.moonquill.com/book/40/5219 128: https://www.moonquill.com/book/40/5227 129: https://www.moonquill.com/book/40/5235 130: https://www.moonquill.com/book/40/5282 131: https://www.moonquill.com/book/40/5346 132: https://www.moonquill.com/book/40/5352 133: https://www.moonquill.com/book/40/5354 134: https://www.moonquill.com/book/40/5380 135: https://www.moonquill.com/book/40/5386 136: https://www.moonquill.com/book/40/5397 137: https://www.moonquill.com/book/40/5401 138: https://www.moonquill.com/book/40/5406 139: https://www.moonquill.com/book/40/5421 140: https://www.moonquill.com/book/40/5422 141: https://www.moonquill.com/book/40/5430 142: https://www.moonquill.com/book/40/5431 Also, this is supposed to be kept on the down low, but moonquill is planning on having its first writing contest with a pretty decent prize pool soon. It is a writing prompt that the mods at moonquill will make just for this event. So if you feel like you wanted to try it out, why don''t you head on over, the contest will be sometime after August and will run for one month. I''m not too sure if I will join in on it, but you best bet that I will be voting for my favorite entry to win. One last thing, although I''m not too rushed on these fronts. Would any of you be willing to join a discord server (that I have not created yet) for SRDM? Ideas, thoughts, comments, and future chapters will be discussed there, if you guys want it. I''ll be checking in on this chapter and this chapter only for comments and what you guys think. After that though, I will officially become inactive on webnovel. 115 Announcement #1 @@ Hey readers who have gotten this far, I just wanted to let you know that now this novel has 300,000 words! What an achievement. However, on Webnovel there are only 150,000 words, so I hope you guys are willing to go over to moonquill.com to continue reading it over there. By the way, what do you guys think of the cover? I still do plan on finishing this book, and my goal is still 10 million words. I''d be glad to have you guys on that journey with me. Thanks again for giving me the supportive start that I had. The next announcements will come once I hit half a million words, but as I''m going back to school, that might take a long while. I hope to see you all there. :) Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting. Dated August 07, 2019@@ 116 A Christmas Presen @@ One last thing before I sign off, it turns out that the longest piece of fiction in english is approximately 17 and a half million words. So... Guess who just got new aspirations? If I had to guess how long this will go on for, then likely for at least another decade and a half. This will be my life''s work. Bless you all. https://www.moonquill.com/book/40 @@